The Brat Pack
by The Clockwork Narrator
Summary: Six friends. One life changing journey though love, family, trust and friendship. Band X-over. Alex Deleon, Cassadee Pope, Brian Dales, Sierra Kusterbeck, Christofer Drew, Jordan Witzigreuter and many more!
1. Chapter 1

**The Brat Pack**

7:45 am. An tiny alarm clock blared loudly, the sound resonating around the small bedroom. Alex Deleon squirmed under the sheets, his ears beginning to bleed from the loud noise. With an eye open, he reached out a hand and slammed it on the clock, silencing it. He smiled triumphantly and pulled the sheets closer to him, preparing to go back to sleep.

_It's just 7:45, _he thought sleepily. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. 7:45? School starts at 8! He leaped up from bed and pulled on anything he could find, hissing curses and mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. He dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Honey! You're going to be late!" said his mother, watching him snatch a cookie from the jar "You only have 15 minutes left—"

"Okay thanks mom. Love you, bye!" he said hurriedly. He dashed out the front door, cookie in mouth, grabbed his bike and rode to school.

Thank God he only lived 3 blocks away; otherwise he wouldn't have reached it by a long shot. Either way, he was screwed. He'd already been late four times and its only the second week of sophomore year. He couldn't afford another detention. What's worse was that homeroom started at exactly 8. Mr. Wentz's class. _Ugh. I hate that stupid hobbit of a teacher. _

After what seemed like forever, he reached the school. He parked his bike and burst though the doors. The clock opposite him said he only five minutes left. _I can make it. _

He wove through the immense throng of students, slowly making progress to the end of the hall. He was almost at the end when something caught his eye. He turned and saw a blonde haired boy around his age looking extremely lost.

_I don't have time for this,_ thought Alex, but he couldn't stop looking at him. The boy, most likely new, was being tossed around helplessly by the river of students. Alex couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. He remembered his first day at school and how no one had helped him until later on in the day.

And so, because goodwill and kindheartedness was just so annoyingly embedded into his nature, he went back in, knowing he will regret it later. He waded through the crowd until he managed to put a hand on the kid's shoulder, making him jump about ten feet into the air.

"You lost?" asked Alex, when the boy finally turned to face him.

"Um, kinda," he said sheepishly "I was just looking for the homeroom classroom—"

"Awesome! I was just going that way!" Without warning, Alex pulled him along through the crowd. He sprinted down the hallway, praying that he'll make it in time. The boy felt like a rag doll, being dragged along so harshly.

Finally, Alex burst through the classroom door. Several students raised their heads in surprise. They stared blankly at the two panting boys at the doorway and returned to whatever they were doing.

"WOOHOO!" crowed Alex, punching the air "I MADE IT!"

"Not exactly," said a snide voice in the corner. Alex's stomach made a knot. He knew that voice all too well.

"Five minutes too late, Mr. Deleon," said Mr. Wentz, his arms folded across his chest "You know what this means don't you?"

Alex clenched his jaw as he watched Mr. Wentz take out a detention pad and scribble his name on it. Furious at the world, he went to his seat. The boy followed after and sat in the seat beside him.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, seeing Alex tug at his long brown locks. Alex looked at him and saw the kids apologetic expression. Despite his anger, he couldn't help but smile at him.

"It's cool," he said. He held out a hand. "I'm Alex."

The kid looked at the outstretched hand, then at Alex's bright face. He smiled and shook it. "I'm Brian. Brian Dales."

~~/~~

"So, you seem to hate Mr. Wentz a lot, don't you?" observed Brian as they walked towards the cafeteria for lunch. _Like it wasn't obvious. _

"Sorta," said Alex, shrugging "I mean, its not like I want to rip his heart out and toss it in a meat grinder."

Brian looked slightly pale. Upon seeing his expression, Alex laughed and punched Brian's shoulder.

"I'm just kidding!" he said "I'm not a psycho. Still, I hate his guts. Its like he has to do everything to make my life miserable." Brian nodded, but still held a suspicious gaze at his companion.

The cafeteria was huge and somewhat organized. Despite the number of students weaving through the tables, cliques and groups can clearly be distinguished. Skater dudes, Goths, punks, jocks, cheerleaders and nerds had their own designated tables. And, being part of the status quo, the more popular groups had bigger tables in the middle, while the inferior groups were cast to the corners of the cafeteria.

"Whoa," said Brian "Its like one gigantic social map."

"You got that right," said Alex, searching for his table.

Brian looked over at Alex. He sort of looked like a popular kid. His clothes looked kind of high end and he had this air of importance around him. _Maybe he'll bring me to sit with the popular kids._

"So," said Brian, averting his eyes "Um…do you sit with them?" He nodded at the big table of popular kids at the center.

Alex snorted. "No. You kidding? I belong to the outcasts."

"The…outcasts…?"

"Yep." Alex took Brians arm and dragged him to the farthest corner of the cafeteria "I sit waaaaay over here." He stopped at the table. Its lone occupant was a girl, her concentration directed to her sketchbook. Her long dark and gold streaked hair hung over her like a thick curtain, obscuring her face.

She looked up. "There you are. I've been here for like 20 minutes already." She held up her drawing of a vulture. "Check it out. I think I finally got it right this time."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Really, Sierra? _Another _vulture?"

Sierra frowned, examining her sketch. "I think it's a nice vulture."

"Of all the birds in the world, why a vulture? They're _ugly." _

"For your information, vultures are _very _interesting birds. They're _different._ They're dark, cunning, _and _they feed off the dead instead of the living."

"Oh yeah, very interesting," said Alex rolling his eyes "You know, if you want dark and cunning, why don't you just draw a raven or something?"

"Too overrated." Sierra shifted her gaze to Brian, suddenly realizing that there was another human being standing beside Alex "Who's this?"

"Sierra, meet Brian," said Alex, putting an arm around him "New student. Just met him this morning. Brian, this is my best friend Sierra."

Sierra beamed at him. "Nice to meet you, Brian. Have a seat."

"Thanks," said Brian. He took a seat next to Alex.

"Where's Christofer?" asked Alex.

"Cafeteria duty," replied Sierra, stuffing her sketchbook back inside her bag "Got sanctioned after he got caught vandalizing the bathroom again."

"This is 3rd sanction this week!"

"Mhm. Oh look there he is." Sierra pointed at the serving area.

Sure enough, a tall skinny 16-year old stood behind the counter, serving slop to students. Surprisingly, he didn't look embarrassed at all. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it.

"Who's Christofer?" asked Brian.

"Another best friend of ours," said Alex "Strange guy."

"Very strange," added Sierra.

"Which is why you should meet him," said Alex 'He's really awesome, don't worry."

Sierra looked up and scowled. "Oh god."

'What is it?"

"Here come the Salpeter-Johnsons…"

Alex and Brian swiveled in their chairs to look. Two snooty looking teenagers were walking towards them, holding their trays of food like they were royalty. From top to bottom, their clothes practically screamed "We're filthy stinking rich" and the looks on their faces clearly had the _we're-popular-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it _message written on them.

"Well, well, well," said the blonde teenager "If it isn't the Brat Pack. Or should I say, the Rat Pack." She and her companion laughed outright.

"Check it out, Greta," said the tall brown haired lad beside her "They're not eating."

"Oh? Dieting are you?" sneered Greta "Well, I doubt it would be of much use to you anyway. It's not like it can change your mediocre appearances, now can it?"

Sierra's scowl deepened. "Go away Greta. Don't you have anything better to do?"

Greta's mouth opened with mock surprise. "Did you hear her just now, Martin? She tried to tell _us _what to do!"

Martin laughed spitefully. "I guess she isn't aware of who is in charge here."

"But she's right," said Greta with a wry smile "We do have better things to do than talk to people like them." She leaned closer to Sierra "And I suggest that _you _know your place in the social hierarchy. You may act like you're superior, but you're nothing, just like the rest of the people in this school."

She straightened up and wiggled her fingers. "Toodles!"

Once they were out of sight, Sierra slammed the table with her fist. "I HATE THAT GIRL!"

"What's their problem?" asked Brian. Alex shook his head.

"Greta and Martin Salpeter-Johnson have been the Brat Pack's sworn enemies since 6th grade—"

"Wait, is that what you call yourselves? The Brat Pack?"

Alex shrugged "Yeah. It's our group name. Christofer came up with it. Anyway, everyday, for the past five years, they had to make it a point to make our lives as miserable as possible. It mostly comes in the form of verbal abuse, which is more or less tolerable. They're too chicken to actually fight us physically."

"Yeah, cause Greta knows I can take her down with both my hands tied behind my back," spat Sierra "Little Barbie demon child."

"Yeah, Sierra's got it worse," explained Alex "She has history with Greta…"

Just then, the sound of an explosion shocked the entire cafeteria. It was followed by an ear-piercing shriek. Everyone turned around to see what had happened and immediately burst out laughing.

Greta and Martin were covered in their lunch. Mashed potato clusters clung to their expensive clothes and heads. Gravy dripped down the sides of their faces and stained the silk and fabric. They were too shocked to do anything else.

"WHO DID THIS?" demanded Greta, as dozens of loyal students dabbed at her angry face with napkins. She stamped her foot in rage. "WHO DID THIS?"

Alex looked back at the serving area and saw Christofer slipping through the crowd, a wide grin on his face. Finally, he slid into the seat next to Sierra, biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh.

"How did you manage to pull this one off?" asked Sierra, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You know how they like having their trays reserved and stuff?" said Chrisofer. He grinned mischievously "I reserved them all right."

"Where'd you get the bombs?" asked Alex.

Christofer shrugged. "Joe's Prank Shop. Where else?" He looked at the siblings, who were raging about their ruined outfits. Fortunately, they were too busy being angry to actually look for the culprit.

He then noticed Brian. "And you are?"

"Brian," replied Brian, still slightly bewildered by what just happened.

Christofer looked at Alex and pointed at Brian. 'New?"

"Yeah," said Alex 'Picked him up before class."

"No wonder you were late this morning. Heard you got detention again cause of it."

"_Again?_" said Sierra incredulously.

"What? Okay if it weren't for me, Brian wouldn't be sitting with us right now," reasoned Alex.

Sierra sighed in exasperation. "You two seriously need to straighten up. These punishments are getting out of hand."

"Excuse me, but weren't you the one who got suspended for 3 days for punching a girl in the face?" Christofer threw back. Sierra scowled.

"I was in a bad mood," she defended.

"Suurrree," said Christofer raising his eyebrows "And you say _our _punishments are out of hand."

"Whatever. I'm hungry." Sierra pulled out her wallet and cursed. "Dammit! You guys have any money on you?"

"Forgot my wallet today," said Alex.

"Cafeteria duty," said Christofer. Sierra looked at Brian hopefully.

He held up a paper bag. "Packed lunch."

Sierra groaned. "I'm going to _starve." _Just then, a large group of loud obnoxious hoodie-clad guys burst into the cafeteria. Their voices drowned out every other noise in the whole room. They high-fived the jocks and strutted around, their sneakers squeaking on the polished floor.

Sierra straightened up and grinned. "Excellent."

"What is?" asked Alex, but Sierra got up before she even gave him an answer.

She walked towards the leader of the group, a tall tan and skinny guy clad in a purple hoodie and skinny jeans. He was the loudest and most obnoxious of them all, practically shouting at his group mates, despite the fact that they were only like a foot away from each other.

"Gabe! Hi big brother!" greeted Sierra, throwing her arms around him. The entire group stopped and stared at the awkward scene.

"The hell are you doing sis?" asked Gabe, pushing her away slightly.

"What? I can't give you a big brotherly hug anymore?" said Sierra with mock hurt "Am I 'cramping your style?'"

"Yep, sorta," said Gabe, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Aw, come on man," said Travis, the guy beside him "She's your sister."

"Yeah, and this is kinda cute, if I must say," said Ryland, another guy "Give her a hug!"

"Hey, come on—" protested Gabe, but a slow chant began to rise from the group.

"Hug her, hug her, hug her," they chanted. Gabe looked at his little sister. Sierra looked up at him innocently.

Gabe sighed and smiled. "Aw, fine. C'mere." He gave his sister a big hug. She hugged him back. The rest of the group cheered.

"Okay now leave," said Gabe "I'll see you at home." With that, he turned and left, his group poking and teasing him.

"What was that all about?" asked Alex as Sierra slipped into her seat. Grinning, she whipped out her brothers wallet.

"Cha-ching!" she said, taking out a few dollars.

"Sneaky little devil," said Christofer. Sierra gave him a look.

"Like you aren't?"

"Touché"

The cafeteria doors opened again, but quieter than the last time. Three boys made wove their way through the clusters of tables and took a seat behind the Brat Pack. Two of them were talking animatedly with one another. The other one sat quietly beside them, reading a comic.

Sierra looked up at the newly occupied table. She saw him. Light brown hair, blue eyes, a hint of scruff on his chin. She narrowed her eyes. There was no mistaking that face.

"Looking at Strauchman again?" asked Christofer.

"Am not," retorted Sierra.

"Who's Strauchman?" asked Brian. Alex turned him around and pointed at the quiet individual in the next table.

"David Strauchman," he said " In my opinion, one of the most rebellious students in the school. Those two over there are his cronies, Travis Clark and Alex Gaskarth."

"You forgot to mention that he's the love of Sierra's life," said Christofer, earning a smack on the arm.

"He is _not_!" snapped Sierra "I mean, what's there to like about him? He's rude, obnoxious, totally insulting…"

"He doesn't look it…" said Brian.

"No, trust me he is. He is the most insolent human being I have ever met."

"She's just saying that, but deep down inside, she's totally infatuated by him," Alex whispered to Brian. Sierra smacked him over the head.

"I heard that!" But Alex just laughed it off.

Sierra ignored the boys and looked back at the table. Her eyes met with his blue ones. Without hesitating, she glared at him and looked away.

~~/~~

David didn't stop looking at her. He was deaf to whatever nonsense his best friends were spouting out of their mouths. He watched as she glared at him and looked away. He didn't break the gaze for a minute.

"And then, like, they picked him up and smashed him into the table!" said Travis animatedly.

"No way!" exclaimed Alex "The Big Show got smashed?"

"Yeah!" said Travis "And then they got the steel steps and smashed it on him" He demonstrated with his hands. "They threw Kane out of the ring too!"

"Man, that is MENTAL!" cried Alex. Travis noticed that David hadn't said a word at all since they entered the cafeteria. He wasn't even reading his comic anymore.

"Hello?" said Travis, waving a hand in his face "Anyone home?"

Alex poked him in the face. David blinked and looked at him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Who were you looking at?" asked Alex.

"I wasn't looking at anyone. I was spacing out."

Travis and Alex looked at the table beside him and saw the black and gold streaked hair. They nodded in understanding.

"You sure?" asked Travis slyly "I could've sworn you were looking at someone."

"Really," said David emotionlessly "Who was I looking at, then?"

"Yeah who was he looking at?" asked Alex. Travis whacked him on the head.

"We both looked at her, you idiot!" he said as Alex rubbed his sore head.

"Aaaaahhhhhh," said Alex finally understanding.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" asked David.

"You know," said Alex slyly "A certain someone sitting in the table next to us. Possibly starts with the letter Sss-ierra?"

David frowned. "Why would I be looking at her? What's there to look at anyway?"

Travis shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say." He turned back to Alex "And then, they took out the referee…"

David looked back at the table again. She didn't look back up at him. He continued to look at her.

~~/~~

Sierra looked at her watch. It said 5:30 pm. "Damn, my dad's gonna kill me. I was supposed to be home 30 minutes ago…"

"Why didn't you say so?" asked Alex.

Sierra shrugged. "You know how I forget stuff…"

"Shall I take you home?" offered Christofer.

"You have a ride?"

"Nah, I'm walking."

Sierra sighed. "Well, its better than nothing." She waved at the two remaining boys. "See ya guys. Nice meeting you Brian!"

"Yeah, nice meeting you too Brian!" said Christofer before they turned around and left.

"So," said Alex "You enjoy your first day with the Brat Pack?"

Brian grinned. "I did, actually. I've never been with a group like yours. Hell, I haven't been in a group my entire life."

Alex put an arm around him. "Well Brian, congratulations. You've just earned yourself a new group of friends. Welcome to the Brat Pack."


	2. Blast from the past

**Blast from the past**

It was a beautiful day at Westbridge High. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping happily in their nests, the flowers were in full bloom and were raising their tiny colorful heads to the sky.

The day was even made more beautiful by the fact that the first period was absolutely free!

For the first time in a very, very, excruciatingly long time, Mr. Wentz had called in sick, so there was absolutely no one to supervise homeroom at all. Which was very, very good news, especially for latecomers.

Alex, along with the rest of the class, hadn't stopped jumping around like a monkey on ecstasy for five whole minutes. It was an amazing feeling. For once, he didn't have to see the stupid little man sneer at him for being late or to listen to his stupid patronizing voice when he gave his stupid little lectures.

"Dude, calm down," said Brian, amused at Alex's hyperactivity "You might hurt yourself."

"Dude," said Alex in reply, still bouncing about "You've been here for like five days already. Aren't you glad you don't have to put up with him today?"

Brian thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you're right." He then jumped up and began to assume Alex's monkey-like state. He didn't suppress a hoot. _Mr. Wentz was gone! _

Unfortunately, a teacher barged in and told everyone to stop jumping around at once or she'll inform the principal. Everyone sank down on their seats and remained quiet, still thrilled about the fact that the devil himself was absent.

"I feel like crying," said Alex, pretending to dab at his eyes "I can't believe this is really happening to me."

Brian gave him a look. "Seriously?"

Alex snorted with laughter and whacked Brian on the arm. "Course I won't cry, silly boy. I'm not a sap."

Brian had to agree. At first glance, Alex didn't even look like the type to break down helplessly.

Brian then noticed something. Wrapped around Alex's left wrist was a faded pink ponytail, obviously much too small for his thick curly hair and much too girly for his personality.

"Is that yours?" he asked, pointing to the ponytail.

Alex looked at it. "Nope."

"Why do you have it then?"

Alex smiled, not taking his eyes off of it. "It's a long story."

"I've got time. A whole freaking period, in fact."

Alex chuckled. "Fine, I'll tell you." He looked at it again, like it was a piece of treasure "It belonged to my best friend in the entire world."

"Sierra?" guessed Brian. Obviously, it couldn't have been Christofer's. Unless, Christofer happened to like wearing pink ponytails.

Alex laughed. "No, no. She goes way, way back. Even before Chris and Sierra." His eyes became distant as he remembered. "It was ten years ago. I was six years old. My dad was just starting his career as a musician so he traveled all over town to play gigs and stuff. We finally settled in a town and my mom got a job at a café where my dad used to play a lot. I remember I was all alone. I didn't know any of the kids in the neighborhood, so I had absolutely no one to play with. And when you're six and you have no one to play with, it was depressing."

"One day, when I was playing in the sandbox at a playground, I saw this girl crying. She looked just as alone as I was. And at a young age, I had that Good Samaritan nature in me. So I went over to her and asked her what was wrong. She told me her friends left her and that she had no one to play with. So, being a loner as well, I offered to play with her. She told me her name was Cassadee. From that point onward, we became fast friends. Best friends in fact. There was never a time when I didn't do anything with her. We went to the playground and to each others houses everyday, I celebrated her birthday with her, we watched my dad play a show in my mom's café, we made each other feel better when we get hurt, like scrape our knee or something. It was the best year of my entire life."

"Then one day, my dad finally got signed to a label and he was starting to tour states. He told me it was hard if he went by himself, so he decided to bring us along. Which meant that I had to leave Cassadee. After being with my best friend for a year, it tore me apart to hear that I had to suddenly leave her. I told her the news and, well…we both cried."

Brian stifled a laugh. "So much for not being a sap."

"Hey come on, I was six," said Alex "Anyway, I told her that she was my best friend and I never ever wanted to leave her. She then asked me what would happen if we forget each other. I then gave her the bracelet my mom made for me when I was two and told her to keep wearing it on her wrist so she wouldn't forget me. She gave me her favorite pink ponytail, the one that always kept her hair up the way I liked it, and told me to do the same." He held up his wrist. "I haven't taken it off ever since."

"So you had that thing on you for ten years?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

Brian shook his head in amazement. "That's a really strong friendship you've got there."

"Yeah," said Alex "And we haven't stopped communicating with each other. I mean, the first few years, we were on the phone non-stop. Then my mom kinda got mad at me 'cause the phone bill was going nuts. So we were reduced to emails. We'd always write so many things to one another. I'd tell her about Sierra and Chris and the other stuff at school and she'd tell me her side. Recently though, I haven't been getting stuff from her. It was strange, but I wasn't too affected by it. At least it gave me a chance to spend time with my two other best friends."

"Do Sierra and Chris know about her?"

Alex laughed. "Yeah. I told them our story about a billion times. I think they're sick of it."

"So," said Brian "Do you know what she looks like now? I mean,she's still a human being. She changes over time."

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually…no. No I don't."

~~/~~

Coming out of Biology was a relief. Today's topic was about the circulatory system and the sight of blood and a real human heart on the projector screen almost made Alex hurl. Medicine was obviously out of his top college courses.

Next period was world history. Excellent. For some strange reason, it was his favorite subject. Something about ancient artifacts, the origin of things and historical events interested him. Whenever he expressed this interest to his friends, Sierra would always give him that look that clearly said _weirdo. _Well, Sierra never cared for school anyway. Christofer, on the other hand, being the strange guy that he is, would go and make some lengthy comparison of the history lesson to this totally unrelated video game or comic, then suddenly shift to a different topic.

He slipped into the back seat nearest to the window and relaxed. A brunette with blonde streaks took the seat in front of him. He didn't pay attention. He never really paid attention to the other kids in the class.

The rest of the period, he was listening intently as the teacher described the different strategies of the different European countries during Word War I. He pictured the war scenes: fighter jets zooming across the sky, bombs exploding everywhere, the sound of machine guns…

The sound of a pen dropping distracted him for a while. The girl in front of him was already bending to pick it up, but he was way ahead of her.

"Hey, I think this is yours," he said, lifting the pen.

"Thanks," she said, taking it.

Then he saw it. His eyes widened until they were as big as saucers. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He blinked a few times then looked at it again. It was still there.

On the girl's wrist was his mother's bracelet.

His heart began thumping hard in his chest. It can't be…can it? He swallowed hard. "Cassadee?" he whispered.

The girl froze. Both their hands were still on the pen. They lifted their heads at the same time. Their eyes met. Hers grew big.

"A-Alex?" she whispered. His heart began to race. It was her! He nodded.

"Oh my—!" she cried out. Dozens of heads turned to them in surprise. Soon, the whole class was staring at them. Both Alex and Cassadee felt mortified.

"What is going back there?" demanded the teacher.

"Nothing sir," said Alex "Just returning her pen."

The teacher narrowed his eyes. "Well, back to your seat, Mr. DeLeon. You've just wasted two minutes of my time."

Alex quietly returned to his seat. Cassadee looked back at him one last time and beamed discreetly. No one could understand the immense joy they felt at that moment.

~~/~~

Alex and Cassadee were the last to leave the room. They couldn't exactly celebrate once class ended because it would cause another commotion and could possibly lead to detention. The teacher was already pissed enough. Pissing him off more would just end badly.

Once they were sure that the teacher was out sight, they finally let out the joy that they had been containing the entire period. And believe me, that was a really, really long time for someone in the grips of total excitement.

"Oh god," said Alex, repeatedly running his hands through his hair "Oh god. Oh god. Pinch me, I must be dreaming." Cassadee, in her excitement, accidentally pinched him hard on the arm.

Alex drew his arm back sharply. "Ow!" He felt the pain. That must mean… "I'm not dreaming!"

They embraced each other long and hard. They didn't care if they died there and then from suffocation. The fact that they were tangible to each other was enough for them.

After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart. Their faces were so bright, it was almost blinding to look at. No words can express the happiness they felt just holding each other.

"How…how are you even here?" asked Alex breathlessly

"Well my mom and her sister changed jobs, and they happened to find some here. So we all decided to move. I just…I didn't know that you were here too!"

"Why didn't you warn me about this earlier? I mean you could've emailed me or something."

Cassadee shrugged. "My mom cut off the internet. She wants us to learn to live without it. And, being a teenager, its totally impossible for me. I am like _dying_ without it." She looked over at Alex's wrist and laughed. "Oh my god, you're still wearing it!"

"Well yeah," he said "You told me to keep wearing it. I never took it off." He held up his wrist to show her.

She held up her own wrist as well, showing him the bracelet. "Same here."

For a while they stood in comfortable silence. Thank goodness it was recess, or they would've been so late for their next class. But it didn't matter. Nothing did now.

"You look…different," said Cassadee, pulling his face closer to see better "I mean, you still look the same as you did ten years ago. It's just…there's something different."

Alex shrugged. "I've grown up, I guess?"

Cassadee laughed. "Haven't we both?"

"Oh my god, I have to introduce you to Sierra and Chris," said Alex excitedly

Cassadee looked surprised. "They're here too?"

"Yeah! I bet they're just dying to see you."


	3. A Tinge Of Jealousy

**A Tinge Of Jealousy**

"Okay Chris, since you're the only one in this table, I need your opinion." Sierra held up her drawing pad. It was yet another drawing of a vulture, her seventh one this week. Christofer gazed at it blankly while sucking his carton of apple juice dry.

'Well?" said Sierra impatiently.

Christofer sighed and put down the juice box. "Honestly...I wish you'd draw cockatoos." Sierra rolled her eyes. "No I'm serious! It's always the same bird!"

"Yeah but this is different!" protested Sierra, putting the drawing closer to Christofer's face "See? I put a big dream catcher in its beak!"

"Ooh yeah," said Christofer sarcastically "It makes it SO different from all the other vulture drawings."

"Hey guys," said Brian, before Sierra could retort "Have you seen Alex? I've been looking for him all morning."

"Nope, sorry," said Christofer "He's been MIA since the start of classes."

"Huh," said Brian, taking a seat "Weird."

" Why are you looking for him?"

"He's got my pen. I need it for later."

Sierra snorted. "Brian, you can't trust Alex to give back your pen after you lend it to him. He loses things really easily. Just like this guy." She jerked her thumb to Christofer.

"I don't lose stuff easily," said Christofer defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Where's my blue panda pencil you used 3 days ago?"

Christofer opened his mouth to say something, but, upon remembering, looked down sheepishly. "I lost it."

"You see?" Sierra said to Brian.

"He better not," said Brian scowling "That's my lucky pen."

"Guys!" cried a loud voice behind them. That voice was too familiar to not be recognized.

"Speak of the devil," muttered Sierra from the corner of her mouth.

Alex was running towards them, dragging along a girl they've never seen before. Her hair was a rich deep chocolate. Her skin was a light shade of olive, with freckles spread generously around her cheeks. Her eyes were bright as the sea in the daytime.

"You guys!" cried Alex, beaming madly. "I—"

"There you are!" said Brian "I've been looking all over for you. I need my pen back."

Alex frowned in confusion. "What pen?"

"I told you," whispered Sierra, smirking at Brian's dumbstruck face.

"Anyway," continued Alex "I have someone I'd like you to meet." He held the girl in front of him as if he were showing off his prized possession. "Guys, this is Cassadee Pope-Williams."

"You mean, like the legendary Cassadee from your childhood?" asked Christofer.

"Yup."

"The one you've been telling us since the beginning of God knows when?" asked Sierra "The one from the story that made me want to duct tape your mouth shut after the first hundred times?"

Alex's frown deepened. "What—"

"Anyway, CASSADEE HI!" said Sierra briskly, taking Cassadee's hand and shaking it "We've heard so much about you! I'm Sierra and this is Chris." Christofer gave a small friendly wave. "And that there is Brian."

"Hey," said Brian.

"It's so nice to finally meet you all!" said Cassadee "Although, Alex never mentioned a Brian to me before…"

"Yeah. I'm new," explained Brian.

"Ah." Cassadee suddenly froze, her hand pressed against her jeans pocket. Her phone rattled against her palm. She pulled it out and checked the message. Her eyes widened.

"Oh crap," she cursed.

"What's up?" asked Alex with concern.

"Sorry I have to look for my cousin," she said hurriedly, walking quickly away from the group. Alex blinked and looked back at the rest of the group, who were just as confused as he was.

"Welp," said Christofer "That was kinda weird…" Which probably summed up the whole moment.

~~/~~

Cassadee was on her toes, peering above all the unfamiliar heads to look for just one familiar one: her cousin Jordan Witzigreuter's. It was infuriating how a lot of guys had his hairstyle, which made the task much, much harder.

Suddenly, someone poked her sharply on the side. She staggered a bit from the shock and looked up to see Jordan's impassive face looking back at her.

"Thanks Cass," he said "I've been looking for you since 5th period and now I've wasted 30 minutes of lunch."

"I'm sorry," apologized Cassadee "I'll make it up to you. I'll buy you lunch."

"Where were you anyway?" asked Jordan "We hardly know the people here. We were supposed to stick together."

Cassadee smiled. "Do you remember Alex?"

Jordan thought for a bit. "I know a lot of Alex's…"

"Alex from 10 years ago? The one who'd always come over to my house? My best friend?"

Jordan looked at her in disbelief. "He's here?"

Cassadee's smile broadened. She bounced lightly on her toes. "Yeah! He is!" She pointed at him. There he was, curly brown hair and all.

Jordan blinked. "Wow, I thought I'd never see him again." A part of him slightly meant it.

"Come, I'll reintroduce you to him and his friends." Cassadee grabbed him by the arm and dragged him all the way to the opposite side of the room. Alex was the first one to notice her return.

"Hey! You're back," he said, beaming again.

"Yeah," said Cassadee. She pulled Jordan next to her. "You remember Jordan, right?"

Alex's mouth dropped. "Oh my god! I remember you! You're the cousin, right?"

Jordan, not liking being referred to as "The Cousin", pulled his lips into a tight smile. "Yeah. And you're the guy who kept coming over to our house, right?"

Alex laughed. "I can't believe you still remember that! Yeah I am!"

Cassadee turned Jordan to face the rest of the group. "Jordan, this is Sierra, Chris, and Brian. Guys, this my cousin Jordan."

"'Sup homie?" said Christofer.

"Here take a seat," said Alex, pulling out a chair for her.

"Thanks," said Cassadee, taking the seat.

"Oh my god," said Alex as he sat down next to her "Have you watched Thor?"

"YES," said Cassadee "Best movie EVER."

"Natalie Portman is gorgeous."

"Oh my god, I know right."

Jordan, seeing as there was nowhere else to sit, sat down in the chair next to Christofer. As the two long lost best friends continued to gush about how amazing the cinematography of Thor was and how Thor looked exactly the same as the comic book, the rest of the gang felt a little left out. In that period, it felt like there was a thick invisible barrier enclosing the two. For some reason, they look like nothing could interrupt their conversation.

"Well," said Brian, breaking the awkward silence "This is pretty awkward."

"Yeah," said Christofer "I don't know how they can talk so much about Thor. The movie was complete crap."

"I didn't see it," said Brian, picking at his food "I wouldn't know."

"So Jordan," said Sierra, deciding to pay attention to him. The poor kid seemed so left out. "How are you cousins with Cassadee?"

"My mom and her mom are sisters," explained Jordan "We live with them. Her, her mom and her sister Hayley."

"Huh," said Sierra "Alex never mentioned Cassadee having a sister."

"I bet he didn't mention anything about me either," muttered Jordan, playing with the zipper on his jacket.

"Yeah. He didn't really talk about you much."

"Typical. I didn't expect him to anyway."

"So you've heard the Amazing Adventures of Cassadee And Alex too, huh?" asked Christofer.

"You kidding?" said Jordan "I practically memorize it."

"You are not alone," said Sierra, touching Jordan's hand empathetically.

"I always thought you guys were exaggerating," said Brian. "But now I know you weren't kidding when you said you wanted to tape his mouth shut whenever he brought it up."

"You're just lucky," said Sierra, patting Brian's hair. She pulled out her drawing pad and turned to Jordan. "So, what do you think of this?"

Jordan examined it. "Is that a vulture?"

"Yep. A beautiful hand-drawn vulture made by yours truly."

Jordan's face scrunched up in repulsion. "Ugh. I hate those kinds of birds. Sorry."

"What did I tell you?" said Christofer, watching as Sierra struggled to find words "Next time, go with a canary or something."

~~/~~

Five days has passed and things have gotten a little weird for the Brat Pack. Alex and Cassadee had missed both recess and lunch three times straight. The rest of them only got to see the couple like twice or thrice a day. And they ALWAYS had to come together. It was like they couldn't let each other go.

"Where the hell are they?" demanded Sierra "This is the fourth time they missed lunch with us!"

"I mean, honestly, the school isn't THAT interesting," commented Jordan "I've walked the campus twice. There isn't much to see."

"Guys come on," said Brian reproachfully "They haven't seen each other for 10 years. At least give them time to catch up."

"What, six days isn't enough for anyone anymore?" Christofer pointed out. "They have computers and cell phones right? I mean, it won't take six straight days for them to just call each other up or, freaking instant message each other."

"Hey guys!" greeted Alex as he casually walked up to the table. Cassadee hung on to his arm, laughing from yet another inside joke.

"Really?" said Sierra irritably "You've been gone the entire morning. The four of us have been wondering where you were the entire time. You decide to show up 15 minutes before lunch ends. And all you can say is "Hey guys!" ?"

"I'm sorry, Sierra," said Alex, not seeming sorry at all "It's just, I had to show Cass the Gardening Club's flower display. She loves looking at those things."

"Yep," said Cassadee, shrugging "I do love looking at flowers."

"Yeah, yeah," said Sierra brusquely "Why don't you also explain where you've been for the past five days?"

"Around the school," explained Alex "I wanted to show her every nook and cranny of the school. And…" He gazed warmly at Cassadee "I wanted to spend more time with her. I missed her so much."

Cassadee smiled back just as warmly. "Aw, I missed you too." She leaned against Alex's shoulder.

"Seriously?" said Christofer, looking at everyone else "Technology isn't an option anymore?"

"I guess cause you're just experiencing one part of the whole freaking individual," replied Jordan.

Alex was starting to sense something strange. "Wait. Wait. Hold up. Do you guys, like, have a problem with me and Cass?"

Three mouth's opened to reply, but only one silenced them. "No, we don't," said Brian, giving everyone else looks "It's just, you've haven't been hanging out with us much. We were kinda getting a little…"

"Annoyed?" suggested Sierra.

"Peeved?" Christofer chimed in.

"Left out?" added Jordan.

"Concerned," clarified Brian. "And, we were kind of hoping that you would, you know, stay with us more, instead of going off on your own."

Cassadee touched her lips in worry. "Oh no." She looked at Alex. "I feel bad."

"Same here," said Alex "Alright. We're sorry. We promise to stay with you guys right here." He pounded the table lightly. "That cool?"

The four exchanged glances and shrugged. "I guess that'd be cool," said Sierra.

~~/~~

And lo and behold, for the next three days, Alex and Cassadee DID stay at the table. The only problem was, the barrier came up again, and this time, it seemed even more impenetrable than the last time.

"Well," said Jordan "You got your wish, Brian."

"I just don't get it," said Brian, shaking his head as he gazed at the couple talking non-stop "You'd think they'd get it by now. I thought I'd made it clear."

Sierra sighed in exasperation. "This is getting ridiculous. Someone needs to tell them off."

Christofer's eyes suddenly lit up. He tapped the table for attention. "Why don't we try to grab their attention? You know, say things that might ACTUALLY tear them away from whatever they're yapping about."

"Excellent idea," said Sierra "I'll go first." She turned to Alex's general direction, making sure her voice goes directly into his ear. "I heard that one of Greta Salpeter-Johnson's Gucci stilettos broke in the bathroom and she fell directly into the toilet bowl filled with her own crap!"

The four of them burst out laughing, making sure it was loud enough for the couple to hear. After a good 5 minutes, they looked up and saw that they didn't even budge. They continued to talk as if Greta's unfortunate incident meant nothing.

"Oookay?" said Christofer in confusion "My turn. I heard that her brother got invited to join the Mathletes club and that his lab partner, the one with the oversized-headgear, has an altar dedicated to him in her locker."

"Oh man that's disgusting," said Brian, chuckling. They looked back at the couple, who still didn't stop talking. "Whaaat? No way!"

"Ooh I have something," said Jordan, clearing his throat "I heard Hayley got caught making out with a mysterious guy under the bleachers and reportedly got a HICKEY."

"Damn, that's scandalous," said Christofer, giving Jordan a high five. Everyone looked back and, again, the couple didn't move. Everyone was dumbstruck. Three attempts and NOTHING happened. Alex and Cassadee were still stuck beneath the barrier, chatting away, oblivious to everything.

"Okay, okay, I have one," said Brian "I'm SURE this will get Alex's attention." He turned to Alex. "I heard Mr. Wentz got suspended for stealing school documents and may come back after we graduate high school."

"Oh NICE!" said Sierra, giving him a high five. They looked back and, you guessed it, they still didn't move.

Sierra threw up her hands in frustration. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT."

"I can't believe we spouted lies for nothing," said Brian, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Either they're horribly deaf," said Jordan "Or they're being idiots."

"I'd pick the latter," said Christofer scornfully "In fact, they're acting more like jerks than idiots."

"You know what? I'm leaving," said Sierra, hastily gathering her things "I've had enough of this bullcrap." The rest followed suit and together, they left the couple, who continued to act as if nothing happened.

~~/~~

Brian checked his watch. 5 pm. Alex was still AWOL. The rest of the Brat Pack hadn't seen the dynamic duo the entire afternoon. Jordan had left an hour ago, which meant Cassadee was gone too.

"Where's Alex?" asked Brian. Sierra merely shook her head, dumping things heavily into her bag.

"Don't know, don't care," she said stonily "He probably went home with Cassadee. Again."

"Yeah, who needs him," spat Chistofer bitterly "Stuck up, son of a—"

"Hey guys," said an all too familiar voice behind them. They turned around and saw the man himself. None of them replied. They continued to glare at him.

"So," continued Alex "I missed you at lunch."

Christofer looked at him incredulously. "You missed us at lunch? How the hell did you miss us at lunch?"

"Yeah we were sitting right in front of you," Brian pointed out.

"Yeah but," said Alex "You guys just suddenly left."

"Okay," said Sierra, shouldering her pack. She stepped closer to Alex, her eyes boring deep into his skull "Do you wanna know why we suddenly left? For nine freaking days, you haven't talked to us. You haven't sat with us—"

"I did sit with you!"

"Yeah but you weren't completely there, were you?" snapped Sierra accusingly "All you did was talk and talk and TALK to freaking Cassadee about God knows what. You left us out. You ABANDONED us, Alex. You know, Jordan? He was completely new and you TOOK AWAY his only source of comfort, the only familiar thing he had: his cousin. What, just because she was your best friend for 10 years, you can just suddenly abandon the best friends you have currently? In those 10 years, you only hung out with her for ONE WHOLE YEAR. You didn't see her for the rest of the 9 years. But we've been friends for THREE YEARS and we've hung out in those three years. You've been with Christofer longer than I have. So tell me, what makes her more special than us?"

Alex pondered upon this for a while. There was a long, excruciating silence. Sierra continued to stare into Alex's face, hoping he'd finally see what he was doing to their friendship.

Finally, he looked into her eyes. "I get it."

"Oh thank the lord—"

"I can't believe how insensitive you all are being."

Sierra gaped at him. So did Brian and Christofer. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. They couldn't believe how STUPID Alex was being.

"What the—" began Christofer.

"I haven't seen Cassadee for 10 whole years," said Alex angrily "All I want is to just hang out with her, spend time with her, BE with her, for God's sake. But no, you guys are against it. I know you all are sick and tired of me talking about her all the time, but you just don't understand how much she means to me. Why can't you guys give me time to just stay with her for a while? Wouldn't you do that if you had a friend who you haven't seen for how many years?"

Sierra narrowed her eyes. That was it. She'd had enough. "You know what? Forget it. I'm tired of this. I hope you're better off with Cassadee." She looked at Brian and Christofer. "Let's go guys."

With one last glare, they turned and walked away, leaving Alex bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun.


	4. The Other Side

**The Other Side **

"Just tell them you're sorry," said Cassadee, rubbing Alex's back gently. They sat on the front porch of Cassadee's house, trying to figure out what to do with the problem at hand.

They haven't communicated with the rest of the Brat Pack in two days, and Cassadee was starting to get worried. She didn't want Alex to completely sever his friendship with his friends all because of her. And she definitely didn't want Jordan to keep distancing himself from her, the way he's doing now.

"But what's there to be sorry about?" Alex pointed out. "They're obviously jealous and selfish. _They _should be the ones to apologize. I mean, what is the harm in spending time with you, for crying out loud?"

Cassadee merely nodded, trying to sort it all out in her head. So far, she's been hearing Alex's side, and it sort of made sense. They did act like they didn't want the pair to be together at all. Were they that tired of hearing the same story so much that they couldn't bear seeing it happen in front of their faces?

"Well," she said slowly "Someone's gotta make the first move. Otherwise…nothing's going to happen…"

"Cassadee," said Alex, looking at her straight in the eye "I am not going to apologize for something that _I _didn't do."

"But what's going to happen if this thing isn't resolved?" reasoned Cassadee "It's a total waste. You've been friends with Sierra and Chris for more than three years!"

"And I've been friends with you for 10!"

"That's not the point, Alex. The point is, if you guys don't settle this soon, then your friendship could possibly be torn to shreds. And I don't want that. I don't want this to happen all because I suddenly popped into the picture."

Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. She did have a point. He let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Don't worry Alex," said Cassadee reassuringly "I'm sure they'll come around."

~~/~~

Sierra dug frantically in her locker. She had a chemistry test in about half an hour and of all the times for her scientific calculator to be missing, it had to be _now. _

"Stupid, stupid calculator," she muttered, pawing through her books and sheets of paper.

Christofer peered over her shoulder. "Hey, little badger. Whatcha doin?"

Sierra looked at him and scowled. "Shut up. I can't find my calculator." She resumed her digging.

He squinted into her locked and shook his head. "I doubt you're going to find anything in there. Your locker looks like a tornado came in and destroyed everything."

"Thanks for the help, Chris," she said, not looking at him "Where's Brian and Jordan?"

"They went on ahead. They both forgot to study for the math test, so they're going to try and cram it few minutes before."

Sierra laughed. "Good luck with that. AHA!" She pulled out her calculator from the mess and held it triumphantly up in the air. "Found you, little sneak!" She kissed it.

"Hey guys," said a voice. They both looked up and frowned. It was the last person they wanted to see.

"What do you want Alex?" demanded Sierra.

"So I've been talking to Cassadee," said Alex, stuffing his hands in his pockets "And she told me that I should apologize for the way I acted. And so yeah…I'm sorry."

Sierra and Christofer exchanged skeptical looks. From the way they were looking at each other, Alex knew they were having a silent conversation. He would know. He'd had a lot of those when he was with the both of them.

Christofer looked back at Alex. 'So…Cassadee told you to apologize?"

"Yup."

Sierra sighed. "I'm sorry, Alex. But we can't accept that apology."

Alex looked dumbstruck. "What? I'm already apologizing for my actions! What more do you want?"

"Uh, sincerity?" said Sierra "If Cassadee told you to apologize, then you're obviously just doing what she says. It's not from your own heart."

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Look, I'm doing this because, if we don't do something about it, then everything's going to fall to complete crap, okay? I'm just doing this to save our friendship!"

"What, apologizing because your friend for 10 years tells you to?" said Christofer, cocking an eyebrow.

"No. I'm doing this because obviously _you guys _won't apologize for being jerks!"

Sierra's mouth fell open in offense. "Well, maybe you should review the last few weeks and you'll see who the _real _jerk is." She glanced at Christofer. "Let's go."

Christofer looked at Alex and shook his head. "What happened to you?" He turned and left with Sierra. Alex continued to glare as they disappeared into the throng of students.

He didn't flinch when he felt Cassadee appear at his side. "Well?" she asked.

"They didn't want to accept the apology," he said indignantly "I can't believe what a bunch of thick-headed people they are." He turned and left Cassadee standing in the middle of the hallway.

Cassadee ran her fingers through her hair. This was really starting to get out of hand. She knew what she had to do. It was time to get their side of the story.

~~/~~

"So Hayley, how was school today?" asked Cassadee's mother, turning towards the only redhead at the table.

Hayley looked up from her plate. "Well, I failed the pop quiz in physics."

Her mother gave her a reproachful look. "Again? You can't keep doing this, Hayley."

"Well I'm _sorry_," said Hayley, stressing how sorry she was by stabbing her broccoli "I don't do physics, nor do I do pop quizzes."

"And yet you always manage to perform surprise maneuvers in Call of Duty," Cassadee pointed out to her sister. Hayley stuck her tongue out at her.

"How about you Jordan?" asked his mother "What did you do today?"

"Well, I got a C in my algebra test," he said, rolling his marble potato around his plate.

"Well, that's…pretty good," said his mother. She turned to face Cassadee. 'What about you sweetheart?"

"Well, I—" began Cassadee.

"Spent the whole day with Alex again?" Jordan finished for her.

"Get out, your friend Alex is here?" said Hayley shocked.

"Oh he's not just here," said Jordan, making sure his eye contact with his cousin held "He's _everywhere_."

Cassadee narrowed her eyes at him. It was bad enough that he was creating this weird distance between them. Now he was making fun of him in her face. In front of their family.

"What do you mean by that?" asked her mother.

"Yes, Jordan. What _do_ you mean by that?" demanded Cassadee, her fingers gripping her fork tightly.

"I think Cassadee knows exactly what I mean. I'm even surprised that you came home alone today."

"That's because you didn't _wait _for me."

"Because I didn't feel the _need _to. I thought prince charming would do it for me." He got up and took his plate to the kitchen. Cassadee was on the verge of throwing the fork at him.

"Well, this is getting a bit awkward," said Hayley, popping a potato in her mouth.

"Cassadee, what's this all about?" demanded her mother.

Cassadee threw down her napkin and stood up from the table. "Excuse me," she muttered. She left the room and followed Jordan up the stairs.

She found him laying comfortably on his bed in the room they shared together. She slammed the door closed and locked it.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded "You've been acting really weird these past few days and I don't understand what the hell is happening. I mean, I'm already kind of stressed about what's happening between Alex and his friends and it's not helping that you're acting like a complete jerk."

"Well, gee Cass," said Jordan sarcastically "You're a smart girl. Figure it out."

Cassadee narrowed her eyes again. "It's about Alex, isn't it?"

"Bingo. Give the girl a prize."

"I just don't get it, Jordan. What do you have against Alex, huh? You know, when we were kids, this wasn't a problem. We were fine. I don't get why it suddenly came to this."

Jordan got up from the bed. He stepped towards her and stared at her straight in the eye. "Well, maybe it's because you really _don't_ get it."

Cassadee was confused. "What…?"

"You don't know how unfair it is for me, Cassadee. You honestly don't know what it feels like to be replaced. In that short time that you spent with Alex, in that year when you first met him, did you even notice me? Did you even remember that I existed? Because I've always been there Cassadee. I tried really hard to be with you. I depended on you, for God's sake. I never knew my father. My mother works nights just to compensate for our staying with you guys. I hardly saw her when I was young. Hayley had her own friends. In the end, it'd be you I'd always see every single day. At one point, I believed that we were brother and sister, because that's how we treated each other. But ever since Alex came in…I felt…like you were suddenly taken away from me, and you didn't mind at all. I felt replaced, and it's an awful feeling, to be replaced by someone you truly thought was your sister. Sometimes I felt like I didn't matter to you anymore, because you had Alex. That's why, when Alex left, I was so happy because I finally had you all to myself. It's selfish I know. But you had no idea how it felt to spend a whole year by myself, knowing that you were having the time of your life without me."

Cassadee was speechless. She had no idea Jordan had kept this in for so long. A pit formed at the bottom of her stomach. Guilt gnawed at her heart.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked softly.

Suddenly, Jordan's bright blue eyes darkened. His shoulders drooped. "What was I supposed to say? You were happy with Alex. I didn't want to end that just because my feelings were getting in the way. I mean…I just…" He let out a big sigh. He looked at her with sad eyes. "I just felt kind of bad that he was your top priority and I wasn't…"

Cassadee's chest tightened. She never heard Jordan speak this way before. She bit her lip, trying to stop the guilt from washing over her. Suddenly she got an idea. Crossing the room, she opened her beside table drawer and pulled out a necklace.

"What are you doing?" asked Jordan.

Cassadee sat on the edge of her bed. "You remember when we attended that camp four years ago and that big kid pushed you into the lake?"

"Yeah," said Jordan, sitting on his bed opposite her "But you left me. The camp counselors pulled me out of the lake and, you didn't stay."

"Yeah, but do you remember when we finally saw each other and you saw my black eye and red knuckles and asked what had happened and I told you I accidentally hurt myself?"

"Yeah…?"

"I lied." Cassadee smiled at him. "I beat him up for you."

Jordan's eyes widened in surprise. "So all this time…?"

"I knew I was too small to save you by myself. Even if I was taller than you back then, I still wouldn't have done it. I called the nearest counselor I could find and they rescued you. While they did, I took care of business and beat that kid up. Because there was no way in hell that I would let my own flesh and blood get hurt by some bully."

A small, relieved smile crept up Jordan's mouth. "R-really…?"

Cassadee got up and sat beside him. "I love you, Jordan. You mean the whole world to me. There was also a time where I thought that you really were my brother, because I loved you that way. All this time, I thought I was protecting you from getting hurt. But I didn't realize that I was hurting you myself. And now, hearing it from you, it made me realize how stupid I was for putting my best friend over the cousin who's been with me ever since birth."

She pulled out the necklace and placed it over his neck. "I want you to have this Jordan. And I want you to remember that you will always be my top priority."

Jordan touched the necklace and looked at his cousin. He smiled gratefully and rested his head on her shoulder. "I love you too, Cass. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk."

"Forgiven. I'm sorry I ignored you all this time."

"Forgiven." Then, Jordan had a thought. "Hey, what if you suddenly fall in love with Alex?"

Cassadee snorted with laughter. "What are you talking about?"

Jordan smirked. "Come on. It's possible, with the way you're acting with him and all." He poked her on her side.

"Stop that!" she said, pushing his hand away "I don't think that's ever going to happen. I mean…me and Alex? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Psh, come on."

Jordan straightened up and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You say that now. But when it happens, be ready cause I'm gonna rub it all in your face that I told you so."

Cassadee gave him a look. "Ha. Ha. Don't think so." She tapped a finger to her chin. "Speaking of Alex, I need to speak with Christofer and Sierra…"

"Good luck with that. They seem set on ignoring Alex for life."

Cassadee looked at him slyly. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

~~/~~

Cassadee sat outside a Starbucks, sipping her mocha Frappucino and patiently waiting for Sierra and Christofer to arrive. She'd texted them about an hour ago, but they haven't shown up. _Just wait a bit more Cass, they'll come. _

Finally, they appeared into view. Cassadee stood up and waved them over. They found her quickly and made their way to the table.

"Thank you so much for coming!" said Cassadee as they sat down "Do you guys want anything?"

"I'll get a café latte," said Christofer, taking his over-sized jacket off.

"And I'll get a banana nut muffin," said Sierra.

Cassadee looked at them in confusion, seeing as they didn't even stand up to order. "What, you want me to order it for you?"

"Well you did ask us what we wanted," said Christofer, shrugging.

Cassadee sighed. "Alright. Be right back."

She got their orders quickly and appeared back at the table just as fast. The pair thanked her and took their food/beverage.

"Don't worry," said Sierra, taking a piece of her muffin "We do this all the time with Alex. He always buys the stuff."

"Speaking of Alex—" began Cassadee.

"Is this why were here?" asked Christofer, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Sort of."

Sierra sighed with exasperation. 'Cass, if you're going to try and get us back together with Alex, you can forget it. He's being a total asshole right now and I don't want to deal with him anymore."

"Actually," said Cassadee "I wanted to ask you about your history with Alex. I mean, you've already heard my story a billion times. I want to hear yours, for a change."

Sierra and Christofer exchanged glances. They had a short, silent mental conversation before turning back to an expectant Cassadee.

"Well, I met Alex in the third grade," said Christofer "I was a loner since kindergarten. No one wanted to be near me cause I was "that weird kid". But, Alex was different. I was sitting silently in a corner, away from civilization, when Alex suddenly came up to me and asked "Hey, what's your name?". That was the first time I was ever spoken to in how many years. It was really weird, having someone suddenly come up and ask me what my name was. I told him my name was Christofer and just like that, we became friends. It was hard trying to be as friendly and open as Alex was, but he helped me out and showed me things I've never had the guts to explore before. And before I knew it, I became the person I am now, and Alex and I were inseparable."

"So when did you come in?" Cassadee asked Sierra.

Sierra smiled a small smile. "It was in the 7th grade. Believe it or not, I was head cheerleader."

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Cassadee. From the way Sierra dressed, she didn't seem like the cheerleader type at all. She looked like the type that _despised _cheerleaders.

"I know right? Anyway, I was head cheerleader since the 5th grade and my attitude was ten times as worse as Greta's. In fact, Greta was horribly jealous of me because I was head cheerleader and she wasn't. So because of that jealousy, she vandalized the girl's bathroom and framed me for it. I ended up getting kicked off the squad. It was the worst day of my life. And it just so happened that Alex and Christofer found me crying on the bleachers that very same day. And Alex, being the good soul that he is, came up to me and asked me what's wrong. Still having my snooty attitude, I snapped at him and told him to go away. He then said that it won't get better unless you tell someone about it. I realized it didn't matter whom I poured my heart out to because I really just wanted someone to talk to. I was made a social outcast and everyone ignored me that day. And just saying everything to Alex made me feel a bit better, because at least there was someone listening to me."

"Then he told me something that changed my life."

'What did he tell you?" asked Cassadee.

Sierra's smile became bigger. "He told me that status is just a name. It doesn't define who you are. You define yourself. That's what makes you unique. And so I decided that I _did _define myself. And I defined myself to be the person I am today, the rebellious teenager who doesn't take crap from anybody."

"Wow," said Cassadee "I had no idea Alex affected you this way."

"So you see why we acted that way when he suddenly left us," said Christofer "I mean, how would you feel if the person who practically changed your life suddenly abandoned you for someone you barely even know?"

"And it was kind of annoying," said Sierra "Because not only was he ignoring us, but he was also hogging you. We expected to _really _meet you, to see what Alex liked about you so much that he kept talking about you for three whole years. But we didn't because, he was busy "spending time with you"."

"I get it," said Cassadee "I completely understand. I talked with Jordan the other day and found out he was having the same problem too."

"Yeah he kind of told us when you and Alex were having your "moments"," said Sierra, making air quotes.

Cassadee twirled her straw. 'So…you guys thinking about making up with Alex?"

"We still think he has to be the one to apologize," said Christofer "I mean, he's the one really at fault here."

Cassadee nodded in agreement. "True…"

"You know," said Christofer "You're a cool girl, Cass. You're not bad at all."

"Yeah," said Sierra "And if you're blaming yourself for all this, don't. It's not your fault. It's all Alex's."

Christofer took out his phone, which vibrating violently against his pocket, and opened the message. He rolled his eyes. "Of all the times…

"What's up?" asked Sierra.

"Dad just told me to pick some stuff up at the grocery." He got up and put on his jacket. "See you guys later. And nice to finally meet you, Cass!"

He turned and left. Both girls watched his retreating figure disappear in the distance. Cassadee then turned to Sierra.

"So," she said "Are you doing anything later?"

"Nope. Why?"

"I'm thinking of ways to spend time together, to pass the time."

Sierra glanced around the mall and back at Cassadee. "Wanna go shopping?"

Cassadee grinned. "Sounds awesome. Forever 21?"

"You know it. Let's go!"

~~/~~

"I am hurt, Cassadee," said Brian, pretending to be offended "You invited Sierra and Christofer, but not me? Hmph!"

"Brian, come on," said Cassadee, putting a hand on his shoulder "I wanted to know their history so I can help solve the problem!"

"I have history with Alex too, you know."

"Dude," said Sierra, her mouth full of chips "You met the guy a few months ago. That's not much of a history."

"Besides," said Cassadee "I hung out with you most of the morning, didn't I? We had about three classes together."

Brian had to agree. "Yeah, and we spent the whole morning talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"And why wasn't I in the conversation?" demanded Jordan "You know how much I love TMNT. Donatello was my hero!"

"Really? I prefer Leonardo," said Christofer.

"There you are, Cass!" cried a voice behind them. They looked and saw Alex looking at Cassadee with relief.

"Yes," she said "Here I am. What is it?"

"I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"And you didn't think she'd be sitting with us?" asked Sierra "She's a part of the Brat Pack too, you know."

"I just thought she'd wait for me outside the classroom…"

Cassadee sighed and faced him. "Alex, we need to talk."

"About what?" Alex was looking at everyone's faces, which remained expressionless.

"I've been talking with everyone about what's been happening, and I've come to a conclusion. The reason they acted that way was because they felt hurt. You were ignoring them, Alex. That's not how you should treat your friends, especially when you mean a lot to them. When Jordan told me how he felt, I understood what I was doing wrong. I'd ignored him. That's how Sierra and Christofer felt too."

Alex glanced at Cassadee to his two best friends. "Is…is that true?"

"Yeah," said Sierra "You'd have to be stupid not to realize it."

"It's the reason we snapped at you," said Christofer "And made you think that we were jerks or something."

Alex shook his head. It was all making sense now. "Wow….I'm such an idiot."

"Yes you are," said Sierra and Christofer in unison.

"I…I'm so sorry guys. I didn't realize…I can't believe I've been ignoring you all this time…I've must've been a real jerk…"

"Yep."

Alex ran his fingers through his hair. "I am so sorry. I was so stupid. I promise this wont happen again. Can you guys forgive me?" He looked straight at them, giving them a sincere gaze that could melt a heart of ice.

Sierra and Christofer exchanged glances and once again, engaged in a silent conversation. Finally they turned back to Alex.

"Sure," said Sierra. Alex grinned and went over to them. He wrapped his arms around both their necks and hugged them.

"I love you guys," he said "I'll never ever, _ever_ do that again. I swear." He hugged them tighter.

"Oh my god. I can't breathe," squeaked Sierra, her voice strained.

"Too. Much. Love," gasped Christofer, tugging at Alex's arm wrapped around his neck. Alex didn't hear them and kept his arms locked.

The rest of the table laughed. Finally, everything was back to normal, the way it should be.


	5. New Faces

**New Faces**

Of all the classes that Sierra had to endure, biology had to be the worst. She had a handful of reasons why she hated it, but it all boiled to three main things:

1. An hour spent listening to scientific crap was an hour wasted.

2. The sight of guts and blood and all those bodily organs always managed to have her on the brink of throwing up.

3. _He was there._

The third reason was the worst of all. It was bad enough seeing him along the corridors, but spending a whole hour _beside _him was pure agony. Those tattooed arms, those sharp cheekbones, that smell of sweat and city air, that tousled brown hair that seemed to fall right into place, those icy blue eyes… she hated everything.

Each step to the Biology lab was an agonizing one. It seemed to take forever to get to the lab, even if it was just a few steps away. A tight knot formed in her stomach. She prayed with all her might that he decided to skip class today. He always managed to skip classes at least four times a week.

She peeked around the classroom door. Her blood turned to ice. There he was. David Strauchman, in all his annoying perfection, staring innocently outside the classroom window. _Thank you God. _

She walked to the table she shared with Dave, willing her knees to stay in place. She sat on the stool, slipping a bit on the edge but managing to catch herself before she fell flat on her butt. No one seemed to notice. She straightened herself, taking her books out of her bag, only to meet the bright blue eyes of her seatmate.

For a second they were locked into each other's eyes. He was staring at her blankly, but the depth of his eyes seemed to pull her in, drowning her in icy blue. It took every bit of her will to glare at him. She would never be his captive. Never.

Dave finally broke his stare and looked back outside. A huge wave of relief washed over Sierra. Finally, peace. Her glance shifted to the quivering pencil to her left. It seemed like he was sketching something. Trees, a small clearing, a curving road, some houses. She looked up and realized that he was sketching what he was seeing outside.

She looked back down and her eyes widened. It never hit her until now. His sketch was an exact replica of what was outside. The details were so precise, the positions were so exact. He even managed to get the little animals that weren't so easily spotted. _Why must everything he do seem so perfect?_

Her eyes strayed upward and she jumped when she found him looking back at her again. His eyes were questioning. Sierra felt herself freeze.

"Can I help you?" he asked in his low, gravelly voice. Something in the back of her neck prickled.

"I, uh…" she stammered.

David looked down at his sketch and smirked. "Good, huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"My drawing. It's good, isn't it?"

Sierra's temple began to pulse in annoyance. If there was one thing Dave wouldn't change about himself, it was his cockiness. "Well I wouldn't say it's good."

Dave chuckled. Sierra ignored the bell-like sound. "Quit lying to yourself. I saw your eyes widen."

"Well, what if they widened because of how horrible it looked?" That was an awful comeback, and she knew it.

Dave leaned close to her, his face just inches away. Sierra urged her heart to keep a steady pace. "Normally when people's eyes widen over an artwork as impressive as this, it wouldn't be out of disgust."

"Alright, class! Settle down," called the biology teacher, Ms. Asher, before Sierra could react. She felt the strong urge to leap into the air with joy. Saved by the teacher.

"Today," continued Ms. Asher "We will be studying the process of mitosis. I will be giving each table one microscope and four slides, each depicting the stages of mitosis. Please take care of the materials."

"Whoa," said Alex (Gaskarth) in wonder as Ms. Asher placed the microscope on their table.

"Dude, dude," said Travis (Clark) "Check out how big my fingerprint is." He stuck a finger under the lens.

Alex peered into the eyepiece. He laughed. "DUDE! This thing is wicked! Your fingerprint is HUGE!"

"Boys!" scolded Ms. Asher "If you break that, you owe the school 20 dollars." The boys didn't seem to hear her.

Dave pushed the microscope to Sierra. "Ladies first."

Sierra decided there was no point in arguing and took the microscope. She peered inside the eyepiece. "Prophase."

"You sure about that?"

"How can I not be sure? I'm the one looking at it!"

Dave took the microscope from her and looked. He smirked. "It's metaphase."

Sierra glared at him again. "That is definitely not metaphase. That's prophase. I'm positive."

"Sweetheart, you're mixing it up." Sierra felt herself twitch. The _nerve_ of him calling her sweetheart. He pushed the microscope back to her. "You see how there's a line in the center of the cell? Those are the chromosomes lining up. That's metaphase."

She peered inside and he was right. There was a line in the center of the cell. She looked back up at him and narrowed her eyes. His smirk widened.

"Well, well, well," she said snidely "You think you're such a genius, don't you, smart-ass?"

He shrugged. "Only trying to correct your wrongs, darling."

There it was again. The name-calling. "So what? You're calling me stupid?"

"Not stupid. Careless, mostly."

She'd had enough. Her hand shot into the air. "Ms. Asher!"

"Yes, Sierra?" replied Ms. Asher.

"Can I switch partners please?"

"And why would you want to do that?"

She pointed accusingly to Dave. "He's annoying me!" Dave bit back a laugh. She didn't know how childish she sounded just then.

"Well, sweetie. That's the way life is. Sometimes, you just have to get along with the person you're paired up with to make things work." She turned around and returned to whatever she was doing.

Sierra shot a glare at Dave. He wiggled his eyebrows, his lips curling into a cheeky grin.

"You heard her," he said, cheekily. Sierra decided that there was nothing worse than that handsome face contorted into something she would like to punch the life out of.

~~/~~

Sierra took deep breaths as she strode down the corridor. Of all the biology classes she'd been to with him, that one had to be the worst. There was no way a boy could be _that _unbearable.

However, there was still that odd feeling tugging at her heartstrings. The feeling of enticement. Somehow, amidst that great annoyance, she felt….enticed? She mentally smacked herself. _Enticed? _How could she be enticed by that wretch? There was nothing enticing about him. Well, maybe his eyes….and his smirk…but still!

She was ready to hurl herself headfirst into the nearest wall when she heard voices ahead. They were loud and harsh. She looked and saw a group of guys, kicking and yelling at something. She stepped closer and saw that they were kicking a young guy a little bit older than she was. He was curled into a ball, protecting himself against the blows.

"Faggot!" shouted one of the guys, planting a kick into the guy's stomach. The guy cried out in pain.

"Your mama should've had you aborted!" jeered another. They continued to kick and spit at him. She thought she saw tears running down his face.

Rage boiled inside of her. At that moment, she completely forgot about biology class and started thinking of ways how to kick those bullies' butts till next week. She stomped toward them, anger coursing through her blood.

"HEY," she shouted. The bullies stopped kicking the poor guy and faced her.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Teaching that lowlife where he belongs," said the first guy, pointing ruthlessly to the guy curled up on the ground.

"And you think you're going to teach him by kicking him to death?" she said menacingly "How about how I teach you something about respect?" She curled her hand into a tight fist.

The guys laughed. "You can't beat us," said the second guy "You're a girl!"

Sierra cracked her knuckles. "Do you wanna hear about the last guy I beat up?"

The guys looked at each other like it was a joke. "Sure. Let's hear it."

"The guy had to skip school for two weeks because I punched his nose all the way in. He had to undergo five operations just to get it out."

The guys continued to laugh, but it had a tinge of fear. "Yeah right. And who's this?"

"Chislett."

The guys looked shocked. "N-no way," said the third guy incredulously "That's why his nose looks so messed up now?"

"Yep. His nose will never be the same again."

The guys looked absolutely terrified. "Let's get outta here guys," said the first guy and they all hurried away from her. Sierra smiled smugly at her handiwork.

She approached the guy curled up on the ground and touched him lightly. He flinched.

"No, no, it's okay," she said soothingly "I won't hurt you. I'm here to help." He didn't stop trembling.

"It's okay," she said reassuringly, stroking his bruised arms gently "They're gone. You're safe."

The guy slowly sat up and hugged his knees. Sierra tilted his chin up to look at his face better. She almost fell back with surprise.

He had the face of an angel. It was almost painful to look at. Every feature on his face was made into perfection. It was the most beautiful face she'd seen in a long time. But his eyes were the saddest things she'd ever seen. So much pain and suffering. Even his perfect face held traces of the abuse he suffered.

"What's your name?" she asked softly.

He swallowed. "William," he said, his voice quivering "William Beckett."

Sierra took his bruised hand gently. "Come on, William. Let's get you some help."

~~/~~

"I'm sorry," said William, holding an ice pack gingerly to his face "I didn't catch your name."

Sierra smiled at him. "It's Sierra. Sierra Way."

William winced as the nurse treated his wounds. "Nice to meet you, Sierra."

"You know, I don't understand why those jerks were beating you up. People would _kill _to have your face."

William's bruised face flushed with embarrassment. "T-thank you."

"Don't mention it. So, what's their reason?"

William sighed. "It's…it's cause I'm gay." His eyes filled up with pain and sadness again.

Sierra's heart melted. She knew that he wasn't living a normal life. But here he was, being beaten up for being who he is. "William—"

His eyes filled up with tears. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't born this way. That I didn't have to spend every single day in fear or in pain. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just died. I doubt anyone would care."

Sierra sat next to him and held his hand. "First of all, you aren't born gay. That's not possible. You only choose to be."

William's cast his sad eyes downward. "Oh…"

Sierra lifted his chin back up. "That doesn't mean people shouldn't respect your decision. You are who you are. No one should tell you who you should be." She stroked his soft brown hair and held his face. "You're beautiful, no matter what kind of person you are. You deserve to be treated right. And you're wrong. There are people who care about you. Your family. God. Me."

Tears trickled down his cheeks. Sierra quickly wiped them away. "Stop crying," she said softly "You're going to ruin your beautiful face." She smiled sweetly. "Smile for me."

Amidst the tears, William smiled a genuine smile. Sierra's grin widened. "Perfect," she said. She embraced him tightly, and he embraced her just as tight.

"Thank you," he whispered.

~~/~~

Not only was William gorgeous, but he was also really tall and lanky. He had one hand under a short stack of books and another holding tightly onto Sierra's. He still looked like a frightened mouse. A tall, lanky, angelic mouse.

Sierra laughed. "Would you relax? You're going to be fine."

William smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I'm used to guys suddenly popping up and beating the crap out of me."

Sierra squeezed his hand. "Don't worry. I'm right here. Just think of me as your personal body guard."

Just then, an idea popped into her head. Her face brightened up. "Oh my god."

"What is it?"

"You know the glee club in school, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"I'm going to take you there later this afternoon."

William's face flushed again. "But—"

"Trust me, you'll love it. You'll have the best time there."

Before William could reply, a force from behind hit him, spilling his books to the ground. A parade of guys cut through the both of them. The leader, who was responsible for spilling William's books, whirled around to face the two.

"Gabe!" snapped Sierra "What the hell is your problem? Would it kill you to say excuse me every once in a while?"

"Well maybe you should watch where you're going before you—" began Gabe when his eyes met those of the guy whose books he spilled. At that moment, he felt like he'd been struck by lightning. He'd only seen that kind of face in paintings…

"Gabe," said Travis (McCoy), snapping his fingers in front of Gabe's face "_Gabe._"

Gabe blinked and shook his head. "Um…yeah. Just watch where you're going next time." He turned abruptly and hurried away, his confused posse following him.

'Sorry about my brother," apologized Sierra, helping William pick up his books "He could be a real ass sometimes…"

"It's alright," he said, replaying the way he stared at him just then. He looked…mesmerized. Stunned. He almost looked…attractive? "I don't mind."

He didn't mind at all.


	6. The Glee Club

**The Glee Club**

"What the hell man!" exclaimed Brian, staring at Christofer's arm. The Brat Pack gathered around Christofer, gazing wide-eyed at the clusters of tattoos covering his entire arms.

Christofer smirked. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Dude I can hardly see your skin anymore," said Jordan, trailing his finger down the length of Chris's other arm.

Christofer shrugged. "It's better than nothing. Plain skin is no fun to look at. Besides, each tattoo means something to me."

"You didn't get these all at once did you?" asked Alex.

Christofer laughed. "Hell no. I'm not that intense. My arms are a work of art. Of course I took time with it."

"Well at least your dad didn't murder you for this," said Cassadee, tracing the circles on his arm.

"He almost did," said Christofer "But I explained what each one meant and he let it go. He became cool about it, so yeah."

"I wonder why you haven't gotten detention for this," said Sierra "It's too hard to miss."

Christofer looked confused. "They give detention for this?" Sierra shrugged. "Well, see, that's why I wear long sleeved shirts."

"Aw man," said Cassadee wistfully "I want a tattoo now."

"Same," agreed Alex "Except…not that intense." He slapped Christofer's arm away. Christofer flinched and rubbed his sore arm, pouting at Alex.

"Hey Sierra!" a voice suddenly called behind them. The Brat Pack turned and everyone eyes except Sierra's widened until they nearly fell out of their sockets.

Before them stood a guy who looked like he'd been cut out of a Vogue magazine. He looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model, only his face looked godlier. He looked like a fairytale prince come to life. Cassadee felt faint. The other guys couldn't believe this guy could even exist.

"Oh hey William!" greeted Sierra with a smile "Ready to go?"

The guy beamed. It was all Cassadee could do not to flop against the locker doors. "Sure."

"Oh by the way," said Sierra. She gestured to her friends "These are my friends. Alex, Brian, Cassadee, Christofer and Jordan. Guys, this is William Beckett. I'm taking him to the glee club."

Alex frowned. "Isn't the glee club for gay people?"

Sierra glowered at him. Then, he and the rest of the Brat Pack realized that William was too pretty to even be considered masculine. Besides, he kind of had that aura around him.

"Right…um…sorry," muttered Alex.

"It's okay," said William shrugged "I've accepted it." He turned to Sierra. "Shall we?"

Sierra linked arms with him. "We shall. See you guys later." She waved back at them one last time before leaving.

"Wow," breathed Cassadee, putting a hand over her poor heart "I almost died there. That guy was gorgeous."

"Yeah well, either way you can't have him," said Brian "He's gay."

"Still," said Christofer, pulling on his sweater "I'm not gay, but that definitely was the prettiest man I've ever seen."

~~/~~

Sierra and William stood in front of the doorway to the choir room. William's hand squeezed Sierra's tightly. She could feel it shaking.

"Relax," she said soothingly 'You'll be fine."

"But…but what if they don't—" began William.

"Shh," said Sierra "They will. Don't worry. Now come." She pulled him into the room. A sudden burst of noise filled their ears.

Sierra knew the school to be diverse, but she couldn't really see any evidences. The glee club, however, contained more diversity than the entire school combined. Students all shapes, sizes, colors, races, orientations, etc. were crammed into this small room. But they didn't look uncomfortable at all. In fact, they looked more than happy to be here.

"I thought the glee club was for gay people only," asked William.

"Maybe, it's cause the gay people constitute most of the population of the club," replied Sierra, gesturing to a large group of loud gay people gathered at the center of the room.

Sierra then tugged at William's arm and led him all the way to the benches, where a guy, as tall and as lanky as him, was sitting quietly, reading a book. His curly brown hair draped over his relaxed but focused face. His clothes clearly said that he was one of those indie-hipster types.

"Hey Ryan," greeted Sierra. Ryan looked up and smiled.

"Hey Sierra. Good to see you." He noticed William. 'And this is?"

Sierra placed both arms on William's shoulders. "This is William. He'll be auditioning for the glee club. Where's Brendon?"

Ryan rolled his eyes at the mention of his best friend. "No idea. Late again as usual."

"THE FUN HAS ARRIIIIIVEEDDDDD!" sang a loud voice. Everyone turned around to see someone sliding in through the doorway Broadway style. He had raven black hair and pale skin. Oversized glasses were perched on his sharp nose. A goofy smile was plastered on his face. If there was a spokesperson for theatricality, that would be him.

"Speak of the devil," muttered Ryan, going back to his book.

"Bren!" cried Sierra, running towards him with outstretched arms. Brendon saw her and his eyes became the size of the moon.

"Oh my god!" he cried, catching her in his arms and squeezing her tight "I haven't seen you in so long! How've you been?"

"I'm good," said Sierra. She saw William hanging in the back ground and pulled him closer. "This is William. He'll be auditioning for the glee club. William, this is Brendon Urie, head of the glee club."

"Ah," said Brendon smiling pleasantly at him 'And I suppose Sierra's told you all about us then?"

William shrugged. "I just know its for gay people…"

Brendon frowned and smacked Sierra's arm. "Why are you stereotyping us?"

"Ow!" cried Sierra, rubbing her arm "Well you _did _start it as a club for gay people."

"William," said Brendon "The glee club isn't just for gays. Its for kids like us who feel misunderstood and neglected. Ignored and bullied for being what they are. I mean, sure majority of the people here are gay, but there are other people here too, like handicapped people, people with mental disorders and disabilities, etc. I gathered them all here because we are sharing one passion: Singing. This is a place where you can be whoever you want to be without anyone judging you for it."

Suddenly, William felt a lot better. Finally, a place where he belonged, where he was welcomed, where no one can hit him and call him names. He'd never felt so at home in his entire life than he did here.

But there was still one more thing…"You're not gay, are you?"

Sierra snorted with laughter, earning another smack on the arm. "No," said Brendon "I just formed this club because I've had enough seeing people being bullied for being themselves. Don't be deceived. I may look it, but I'm not. It's called being metrosexual."

He suddenly clapped his hands together. "Hey, do you want to see a demo of what we do before you audition? So you have a feel of what goes on here?"

William nodded. "Sure. Why not?" He and Sierra took their seats as Brendon called the glee club to assemble.

Once everyone was in place, Brendon turned dramatically to them. Sierra laughed. He was such a performer.

"Lady and gentleman," he announced grandly "This is I Write Sins Not Tragedies."

The altos and sopranos started a simple but haunting melody. Their voices filled up the entire room. William and Sierra felt as if they were inside a concert hall or something.

"_Oh, well imagine,_" sang Brendon with emotion

"_As I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor_

_And I can't help but to hear_

_No I can't help but hear an exchanging of words_

'_What a beautiful wedding!'_

_What a beautiful wedding, says a _

_Bridesmaid to a waiter _

_And yes but what a shame, _

_What a shame_

_The poor groom's bride is a -" _Everyone placed a finger to their lips and shushed.

"_I'd chime in," _sang Brendon grandly along with the rest of the glee club

"_With a haven't you people ever heard of _

_Closing the goddamned door?_

_No, it's much better to face these kinds of things_

_With a sense of poise and rationality_

_I'd chime in_

_Haven't you people ever heard of_

_Closing the goddamned door? _

_No, it's much better to face these kinds of things_

_With a sense of…"_

"_Oh, well in fact," _Brendon sang by himself again.

_We'll all look at it this way_

_I mean technically our marriage is saved_

_Well, this calls for a toast _

_So pour the champagne, pour the champagne_

_Oh! Well in fact_

_We'll all look at it this way_

_I mean technically our marriage is saved _

_Well this calls for a toast_

_So pour the champagne, pour the champagne!" _

The melody intensified. William and Sierra felt drawn in by the sound. Brendon began to fling his arms around like a mad conductor.

"_I'd chime in," _he sang

"_Haven't you people ever heard of_

_Closing the goddamn door_

_No, it's much better to face these kinds of things_

_With a sense of poise and rationality_

_I'd chime in_

_Haven't you people ever heard of _

_Closing the goddamn door_

_No, it's much better to face these kinds of things_

_With a sense of poise and rationality_

_Again!" _

The song ended with a grand finish. Brendon and the glee club bowed deeply. William and Sierra stood up and gave them a standing ovation.

"That was AMAZING!" said Sierra, with a big smile on her face.

"Thank you sweetie," said Brendon. He turned to William. "Interested now?"

William nodded with vigor. "Yeah."

Brendon swept his arm around. "Then let us hear you."

Suddenly, the nerves hit him hard again. His knees began to shake and his hands began to tremble. He looked at Sierra and she gave him a reassuring smile. That was all he needed to lessen the nerves.

He stepped to the center and looked at the rest of the club. Thankfully, they didn't look intimidating at all. In fact, they were the most welcoming faces he'd ever seen in a long time.

"So, William," said Brendon taking a seat 'What will you be singing today?"

William closed his eyes and tried to think of a song at the top of his head. He suddenly remembered A Walk to Remember, his favorite movie of all time. And he absolutely loved the theme song.

"Um…I'd like to sing Someday We'll Know by Mandy Moore," said William. Brendon smiled and motioned for him to start.

William took a deep breath and sang.

"_90 miles outside Chicago_

_Can't stop driving, I don't know why_

_So many questions, I need an answer_

_Two years or later, you're still on my mind_

_Whatever happened to Amelia Earheart?_

_Who holds the stars up in the sky?_

_Is true love just once in a lifetime?_

_Did the captain of the titanic cry?_

_Someday we'll know_

_If love can move a mountain_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why the sky is blue_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why I wasn't meant for you_

_Does anybody know the way to Atlantis?_

_Or what the wind says when she cries?_

_I'm speeding by the place that I met you_

_For 97__th__ time_

_Tonight_

_Someday we'll know_

_If love can move a mountain_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why the sky is blue_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why I wasn't meant for you_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why Samson loved Delilah_

_One day I'll go_

_Dancing on the moon_

_Someday you'll know_

_That I was meant for you."_

Everyone was up on their feet, clapping and singing along. Finally, William wasn't alone. Finally there were people who were just like him, who liked the same things he did and weren't ashamed to admit it. It was the best feeling in the entire world.

"_I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow," _sang William

_Watched the stars crash in the sea_

_If I could ask God just one question_

_Why aren't you here with me_

_Tonight?_

_Someday we'll know_

_If love can move a mountain_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why the sky is blue_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why I wasn't meant for you_

_Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Someday we'll know_

_Why Samson loved Delilah_

_One day I'll go_

_Dancing on the moon_

_Someday you'll know_

_That I was meant for you."_

Everyone clapped and cheered for him. William saw Sierra wiping her eyes and clapping like a proud mother. Brendon and Ryan remained in their seats, but their faces were happy, surprised even.

Once everyone took their seats, Brendon took off his glasses. "Well, William. I believe we've reached a conclusion."

William bit his lip, anxiously waiting for the verdict. Sierra crossed her fingers behind her back tightly.

Brendon smiled. "Congrats. You're in."

~~/~~

Gabe leaned against the doorframe of the glee club room. He meant to wait for Travis, but he ended up watching that boy sing to the rest of the glee club. Right now, his sister was running towards him and flinging her arms around him. From what he was seeing, it looked like he just got in. Well he deserved it. His voice was really good.

Gabe knew who he was. He was in his history class. Two rows down, second to the left. William something. He never noticed him before. He didn't even know he existed.

So why is he standing here, staring at him? After all, he just bumped into him once. It shouldn't mean anything. But…he looked different….seemed different… He watched as William smiled at Sierra. That surprisingly dazzling smile made his heart beat just a tad faster than normal.

_The hell are you doing? _snapped his common sense. _You're not gay! You're supposed to despise gay people. Do not be a hypocrite. _

With much effort, he pulled his gaze away from the door, only to gaze into the frowning face of Travis.

"Oh there you are," said Gabe casually.

"Why are you looking at the faggot club?" asked Travis, nodding towards the doorframe.

"I-I wasn't," said Gabe, but his stutter gave him away. Travis cocked a brow.

"Really now?"

"Yeah dude. You took really long, so I spaced out here and I happened to be facing the door. I swear. Now are you coming with me or what?"

Gabe walked ahead, eager to be away from Travis's questioning stare. He tried to block all the stupid thoughts from his head, but a tiny part of him regretted seeing William for just a moment.


	7. To Be Noticed

**HAI GUISE I'M BACK. I decided to write, cuz there was a storm and so yuhhh. Hope you like it :D**

**To Be Noticed**

"I swear to you," grumbled Alex, slamming his lunch tray on the table "Mr. Wentz is the devil incarnate. That math test was bogus!"

Just an hour ago, he felt overly confident about acing the math test. He didn't even study. Come on, it's just algebra! What's the worst that could happen?Unfortunately for him, he forgot that Mr. Wentz hated his students and of course, decided to bombard the test with 50 items of despair and suffering. Alex was surprised he even made it out alive.

"That's your own fault," said Cassadee, biting into her apple "You were too confident about it. You didn't even study for it."

"I bet even if I did, I'd still fail," said Alex, angrily jamming a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "And it doesn't help that he's both my homeroom AND math teacher. Like its not enough that I see him the first thing in the morning."

Jordan was about to say something, when he suddenly frowned. "Do you guys hear that?"

Everyone else cocked their heads to listen to the noise. Something loud and high pitched was approaching their table. It sounded like an excited mouse running towards cheese.

Suddenly, hands slammed on the table. Brian jumped about 10 feet into the air, spilling his lunch all over him. Everyone looked up and saw Sierra, grinning so wide it almost looked like her face was about to split in half.

"You will never guess what I got," she said breathlessly. Her eyes were as wide as plates.

"Money to buy me lunch?" said Brian, dabbing at his pants with a napkin.

"No." She turned to Alex. "Tickets to Devilish Rapture….3."

Alex spat out his milk. "SHUT UP."

Sierra pulled out tickets from her back pocket and wiggled it in Alex's face. He snatched it up and stared at it like it was some lost treasure.

"Please tell me you're taking me," he pleaded. "PLEASE."

Sierra stared at him blankly. "I'm not taking you."

Alex looked like he was about to cry. Sierra burst out laughing and smacked him hard on the arm.

"Of course I'm taking you, stupid," she said "You're my movie buddy!"

Alex flung his arms around her. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

Sierra patted his hand. "I know you do. Thing is, I've got 3 tickets. So…." She turned to Christofer. "Chris?"

"When?"

"This Saturday."

He shook his head. "No can do. I'm busy Saturday."

"Chris, come on, you always blow off Movie Day," said Alex.

"That's cause you always pick the day when I'm busy," said Christofer,

Sierra gave him a look. "Doing what?"

"I've got things…"

Sierra rolled her eyes. "Fine." She turned to Cassadee. "Cass? Wanna come with?"

"Thanks," said Cassadee "But I've got a date with Jordan that day."

Alex cocked a brow. "You do?"

Jordan looked confused. "We do?"

"Yeah, don't you remember?" asked Cassadee "Cause our moms are spending the entire afternoon at the spa, so she told me to take Jordan out so we can have "cousin bonding" time, which is weird because we live in the same house."

"Your sister isn't coming?" asked Alex.

"Nah. She's got some weird History test to study for. If you ask me, she's just bluffing."

Jordan looked a bit nervous. 'So…where are we going?"

Cassadee beamed at him. "Forever 21."

Jordan's eyes widened with horror. He looked at Sierra and Alex. "Take me with you."

"No," said Cassadee "You're spending the afternoon with me. Our moms will kill us."

"But why can't it be some place like, I dunno, a skateboard shop or something," whined Jordan "You like skateboarding, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Cassadee. A mischievous smile crept onto her lips. "But mom said I get to choose where we hang out."

Jordan shut his eyes tightly and slammed his head on the table.

"Well then," said Sierra "That leaves us with….Brian." She turned to Brian. "Would you like to come with us?"

Brian looked uncomfortable. "I don't think that's my type of movie…"

"Come on, Brian," said Alex "I mean its not like you watch chick flicks like Tangled and Crazy, Stupid, Love."

Everyone else could've sworn Brian's cheeks turned into a deathly shade of red, but he covered it up and said "Ew no. Are you kidding me? What's it about anyway?"

"Uhhh…think Exorcism," said Sierra. Brian paled. The last time he watched an exorcism movie, he had to sleep with a nightlight for a week.

"But don't worry," said Alex "Its about as scary as…Drag Me To Hell."

"But Drag Me To Hell wasn't even scary," said Brian.

"Exactly!" said Alex "It's just so entertaining, you'll forget it's a horror movie!"

Brian shrugged. "Fine. I'm game. Let's do it."

~~/~~

As much as Christofer loved music, he _hated _music class. Especially since majority of his classmates had no musical talent whatsoever (no offense to them). Listening to them was like listening to a live cow being thrown into a meat chopper. It was almost pitiful.

"Alright class," said Mr. Davis, the music teacher 'We're going to go through that again. This time, use your diaphragm."

Christofer winced. If he had to go through _Who Has Touched The Sky _one more time, he swore he was going to leap off the school building.

It also didn't help that he shared the class with the Salpeter-Johnsons. They looked like over-groomed poodles in their expensive clothes. Okay, fine, maybe Greta looked kind of pretty in her pink satin dress, but STILL. They just looked so snooty, it almost made him want to punch them.

What's worse was, they could actually sing. It was so frustrating because, even if everyone else's awful voices drowned each other out, he could still hear that their voices were good, so he can't make fun of them for that. Plus, they were making disgusted faces at the people who couldn't sing. I mean, sure Christofer thought that they sucked, but at least he wasn't being rude about it.

At least he had Jordan with him. Fortunately, Jordan was blessed with a more or less good voice, though it would've been better if he made it a tad bit louder. He sounded like he was singing for mice.

His leg brushed the ukulele standing at his feet. He had promised Alex and Sierra that they would have a jam session later with Cassadee, Jordan and Brian to make up for his absence on Saturday. Jam sessions with the two of them were the best. He loved it when they sang and their voices blended so perfectly together. He wasn't sure about Cass, Jordan and Brian, but maybe their voices would make the jam session even better.

Jordan massaged his ears once the two of them left the room. "Oh god. I think my ears are permanently damaged."

"Tell me about it," said Christofer "It was like listening to pigs in a slaughterhouse." They both shivered in disgust.

Christofer reached up to finger the strap of his ukulele case…only to find out that it was not there. He patted his entire body, searching for it. He cursed under his breath.

"What's up?" asked Jordan.

"I left my ukulele in the music room," said Christofer. He turned around to head back, only to stare into the faces of the demon twins themselves.

"You mean, this ukulele?" said Greta gesturing at Martin. With an evil grin, he held up a ukulele, broken at the shaft, its strings dangling limply.

"Sorry about that," said Martin, obviously not sorry about it at all "I kind of, ah, didn't see where I was going." He tossed it to Christofer, who caught it with fumbling hands.

Greta and Martin laughed cruelly and strode past them, pushing people aside as they went by. Christofer held up the broken ukulele and plucked one string. It sounded completely off.

"So sorry about that man," said Jordan sympathetically. To his surprise, Christofer didn't look heartbroken at all.

"Meh," he said "It's okay. It's fake anyway. I have like a dozen back at home. My real one's under my bed."

He and Jordan walked to his locker. He opened it and stuffed his binder and the broken ukulele inside.

"Aren't you going to get Martin back?" asked Jordan.

Christofer smirked. "Of course I'll get him back." He eyed Martin, who was heading towards his locker. He took out a tiny remote from the back of his locker.

"Watch this," he said, and pushed a small button. As Martin placed a hand on the locker door, it locked instantly. Confused, Martin pulled at it, but it didn't budge.

"Whoa," said Jordan, watching as Martin shook the door frantically "How'd you do that?"

"Got my techie friend to wire it up for 10 bucks," said Christofer "Now watch this." He pressed another button and the locker door swung open, slamming into Martin's face.

Martin cried out and held his eye. He staggered to the bathroom, trying to escape the laughter of his schoolmates. Christofer was doubling over with laughter.

"Oh god, oh god," he gasped "Did you see that? His eye is going to be _so _messed up."

One of the students suddenly approached him. "Way to go man!" He high-fived Christofer.

"Yeah, you showed him up real good!" said another student, giving him another high five.

'Totally awesome man!" said a third student, patting him on the back.

"Wait a minute," said Jordan, confused "How did you know he did it?"

"Dude, everyone knows that any prank done in this school, especially done to teachers and Salpeter-Johnsons, is done by Christofer," said the first guy.

"Yeah, only the best ones come from him," said the second guy.

"Aw come on guys, I ain't that great," said Christofer, trying to be modest, but it was obvious that he was enjoying the praise. "Come on, Jordan. Let's go."

Jordan followed him down the hall, listening to the cheers and praise being given to Christofer. Christofer looked like a celebrity, with fans clapping him on the back, patting him on the shoulder, telling him that he was awesome.

Jordan couldn't help but wish that that was him. That was all he ever wanted before, to be noticed and appreciated. Back in his old school, he was a wallflower, completely invisible to the student body. And when they did notice him, they'd call him things like "Rabbit boy" or "Hamster face" or even, the most cruel of all, "That Bastard Kid".

He watched Christofer, thinking that maybe someday, people would go up to him and tell him that he was awesome. Maybe.

Though he wouldn't count that it would come soon.

~~/~~

Jordan rested his head against a mirror. The sight of dresses and accessories was blinding him. Sure, he'd seen a cute girl or two, but if he stayed here any minute longer, he might just have a panic attack.

"Cass! Can we leave now?" he called into the dressing room stall "I'm dying here."

"Yeah, just a sec!" Cassadee called back from behind the door. "2 more outfits to try on."

Jordan sighed. This was going to take forever. Finally, Cassadee stepped out, clad in a pale pink summer dress. She spun around, making the skirt fly.

"Whaddya think?" she asked, batting her eyes.

Jordan stared at her blankly. "What am I supposed to think?"

"I dunno. Does it look good on me?"

"How should I know? I'm a dude."

Cassadee rolled her eyes impatiently. "Just say if it looks nice or not."

"Fine," said Jordan "Get it."

Cassadee turned toward the mirror and frowned. "I dunno…it's not really my style."

Jordan spread his hands. "Why did you even ask?"

Cassadee closed the dressing room door in response. Jordan shook his head. "For the love of…" he muttered.

"Did you enjoy the jam session yesterday?" asked Cassadee as she changed. Jordan smiled to himself. He wasn't expecting much from the jam session, but it was pretty awesome. They sang all his favorite songs, but he was too shy to sing along. He was glad that Brian was just as awkward as he was. But eventually, they got both of them to sing. And they didn't sound that bad either.

"Yeah," said Jordan "It was cool."

"I know right? I can't believe how amazing we sound together." She opened the door, coming out in a salmon pink blouse with soft folds cascading down the sleeves and a pair of slim jeans. "How about this one?"

"That one looks a lot better," said Jordan without thinking "It really brings out your form and makes your eyes pop."

Cassadee raised an eyebrow. "Makes my eyes pop?"

Jordan paused. "Did I just say that?"

"Yeah you kinda did."

Jordan grabbed at his hair in horror. "What is HAPPENING to me?"

Cassadee turned and looked at herself in the mirror. "Whaddya know? You're right! It does! I'm bringing out the fashion expert in you, Jordy."

Jordan waited till she disappeared back into the stall before getting back at her. "I caught you ogling at Alex while he was singing I'll Be."

He heard Cassadee pause. He smirked. He caught her off guard, and now he was sure she was blushing madly.

"I was not!" she retorted, but her voice sounded shaky "I was just…admiring his singing! He has a good voice!"

"You looked at him as if he had a choir of angels in his throat."

"Well he di—I mean, of course not!" She stepped out, hurriedly bring the clothes to the counter.

"Sure," said Jordan, as she was paying for the clothes "You just happened to be spacing out in his direction with an awestruck face, right?"

Cassadee's cheeks colored. "Well for your information, he wasn't the only one with a good voice, you know. Sierra and Christofer's and even Brian's voice was like his too."

Jordan suddenly had a thought. "Speaking of Christofer, what do you think he does on Saturdays?"

Cassadee took the bag of clothes and thanked the saleslady. "Beats me. He sounded really mysterious about it though."

They exited the store and headed towards Starbucks. Jordan already knew what he wanted: a grande non-fat iced chai tea latte. It was like a spa in his mouth. He was just savoring the memory of its taste in his mind when something caught his ear. The sound of a guitar.

"You hear that too?" asked Cassadee "The guitar?" Jordan nodded.

Slowly, they turned around and saw someone sitting at a bench beside the fountain, hunched over a guitar. A small crowd gathered around him, dropping bills and coins into his open guitar case.

They approached him as he finished his song. The audience clapped and cheered for him. As they began to disperse, they saw that it was….none other than Christofer himself.

"Chris?" said Cassadee incredulously.

Christofer looked up and beamed at them. "Hey guys! What brings you here?"

"This is what you've been keeping from us?" said Jordan, gesturing at the guitar in his hands "That you have mini acoustic concerts every Saturday afternoon?"

Christofer shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Why keep it a secret?" asked Cassadee "I mean look at your guitar case! It's half full!"

"I don't want a lot of people to know about it, you know? I'm not a fan of really big crowds…"

Jordan was about to retort with the fact that most of the school acknowledges him as the Prankster of Westbridge High, when he heard familiar voices talking excitedly behind him. He turned and saw Alex, Sierra and Brian walking towards them. Alex and Sierra looked ecstatic beyond belief. Brian? Not so much.

"Oh man, that was AMAZING," said Alex excitedly "That totally kicked Devilish Rapture 1&2's ass."

"Oh and when the possessed girl ripped that guy's heart out," said Sierra animatedly, pretending to rip a heart out "That was SO EPIC."

Alex smacked Brian, who was as stiff as a board of wood, playfully. "See? I told you it wasn't that bad!"

"I don't think I can sleep tonight," said Brian, his voice quavering "I'm never going to get rid of those god awful images."

Sierra was about to respond when she saw Jordan, Cassadee and Christofer. She smiled and waved at them. "Hey guys!"

She ran towards them, Alex and Brian following closely behind. She looked at the guitar in Christofers hands and her eyes widened. "So this is what you do every Saturday?"

Alex eyed the pile of cash in Christofers guitar case in awe. "So THAT'S where you get your extra cash!"

"Oh my god, he has his own solo jam sessions without us!" said Sierra mournfully "AND he gets paid!"

"You're breaking my heart Chris!" said Alex in mock sorrow. "See? This is my heart." He formed a heart with his hands, then broke it in half. "And now look, you broke it!"

Brian looked at them weirdly. "Guys…quit overreacting. Seriously. It's not that big a deal."

"No, it's okay," said Christofer "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner. I just didn't want a lot of people to know about it. What can I do make it up to you?"

Sierra tapped her chin in thought. "Give us a part of your earnings."

Christofer looked horrified. "NO!"

Alex laughed and smacked him. "We're just kidding bro. It's okay if you didn't tell us. And hey, I'm not surprised you earned that much with your voice."

Christofer smiled. "Thanks bro." He fist bumped Alex.

"So, how was the movie?" asked Cassadee. Brian gave her a _oh-god-why-did-you-ask_ look, but Alex and Sierra immediately gathered around her and told her the entire story.

Jordan looked back down at Christofer and watched him pack his guitar and pocket his earnings. That was it. Christofer was everything he wanted to be. Well-known and properly appreciated for his talent. All his life, he wanted to be someone like Christofer. Maybe now he had a chance.

Maybe that chance did come sooner than he thought it would.


	8. Encounter

**HEEEEYYYYYYY. Hi. I'm back! Sorry for the long long long wait. You can thank school. Anyway, I have two new chapters! Gabilliam/Rydon fans, I have a little something for you here : **

**Encounter **

"So where are we going?" asked William, as he and Sierra walked down the side-walk, licking soft-serve ice-cream cones.

"The sports field," replied Sierra, licking a stray vanilla drop trickling down the side of her cone.

"Why?"

"I dunno. Its my happy place. I go there when I'm happy, sad, or just bored."

William licked a bit of his ice-cream. "Really? What do you do there?"

"Oh, you know, just sit on the bleachers and read or watch joggers or just space out."

"Ah. Very productive."

Sierra elbowed him. "Just be thankful I saved you from complete boredom. If it weren't for me, you'd be at home, watching Gossip Girl reruns."

William frowned. "But I like Gossip Girl."

"Yeah, but I don't think you'd want to watch that heart-breaking Chuck and Blair scene again and again..."

William nudged her back and grinned. "Alright fine. Thanks for the ice cream by the way."

They arrived at the field and made their way up to the middle of the bleachers. They popped the last bit of ice-cream cone into their mouths and watched as the sun set behind the trees. The field was bathed in orange from the dusk glow of the sun. A flock of birds flew in arrow formation across the sky.

"So how's school been treating you?" asked Sierra after a few moments of silence.

"Better than before," admitted William "You know, ever since I joined the glee club, I felt more...free. Like I could wear whatever I want and do whatever I want and not care about what other people thought of me."

It was true. Around a week after he joined the glee club, Sierra noticed many changes in William. He started wearing clothes more fitted to his nature, like vests, ties, collared shirts, v-necks and even skinny jeans. He looked happier and livelier, not scared like he used to be. Of course, people still gave him looks, but recently, whenever he noticed these looks, he'd just turn the other cheek and keep walking.

"I'm so proud of you," said Sierra, giving him an encouraging smile "I should probably congratulate Brendon when we get to school tomorrow."

"I noticed something else..." said William quietly.

"What is it?"

"Your brother."

Sierra blinked. "Gabe?"

"Yeah," said William, fingering with the little curl resting on his forehead "He...he's different..."

Sierra cocked an eyebrow. "Different? I mean sure he's weird and embarrassing and sometimes scary, but in what way?"

"I dunno...I don't think he's ever...you know...been mean to me...like he's never beaten me up and called me names and stuff..."

Sierra rolled her eyes. "Probably thinks he's too good for the lower members of the student body. Asshole."

William shook his head. "No. It's not that. I don't know how to explain it. I just figured after the way he looked at me when he bumped into me last week..." He couldn't put it into words. He knew there was something in the way Gabe looked at him at that moment. He looked...stunned.

Sierra straightened her jacket. "I know what you're thinking. And it's never going to happen."

William frowned. "Why? What do you think I'm thinking?"

"William, Gabe is not gay. I am 100% sure of that. He's been homophobic ever since the 7th grade. Even though it doesn't seem like he bullies gay people, he sends out his minions to do the dirty work for him. If he comes out, people are going to question him, especially the people in his group."

"Oh," said William, turning away and looking into the distance. _Why __was __he __looking __at __me __like __tha__t then?_

Sierra frowned. "You don't...happen to like him...do you?"

William looked at her and shook his head. "No. No. I don't." At least, thats what he thought, though his heart wasn't 100% sure of that answer.

Sierra shrugged and leaned back, folding her hands behind her head. "Well, if you did, I wouldn't really have that much of a problem. Just be ready to get your heart broken when he refuses."

~~/~~

"Oh jeez, Gabe, look at the time!" scolded Travis, looking at his watch "We were supposed to be here 30 minutes ago. It's getting dark already!"

"Hey, come on!" protested Gabe, putting on his sweatbands "I was busy!"

"Yeah, watching Gossip Girl reruns," said Travis "Like, what the hell are you doing, watching chick shows?"

"Hey," said Gabe defensively "You gotta admit, Leighton Meester is smoking hot."

"True," agreed Travis "But I can just google her up. You, on the other hand, decide to watch the entire show."

"Shut up." They reached the inside of the field. The jogging track ringed the entire field, the sand littered with hundreds of footprints. A cool wind blew, rustling through the trees.

"Alright," said Gabe, rolling his shoulders "Let's jog!"

They started at the same time, jogging together at the same pace. Travis had his earphones on, lost in his own little world of rap and r&b. Gabe, because he was too busy finding out whether Blair's baby was Chuck's or not, only brought himself, dressed in jogging attire.

Gabe jogged ahead. Gabe always finished the round before Travis did, being tall and freakishly slim. He decided to space out and get lost in his own thoughts. It wasn't long before the sound of Travis's music and his humming were lost behind him.

Gabe began to think about school. Ugh. School. Why did he even go to that place? What was the point? He hated learning. He just wanted to hang out with his friends and vandalize shops and stuff. If it were up to him, he would've ditched school a long time ago. But he knew he couldn't do that. His dad would murder him. He remembered the only time he dared to skip school. His dad found out and became a dragon before his very eyes. Not literally, but you get the point. Gabe knew that guys his age don't take their parents seriously anymore, but his father had a way of making him feel like a mouse in the eyesight of a very, very large cat.

Then he remembered that boy he bumped into. Who _was _that? At first, he thought it was a girl so the only thought he had at that moment was, _dude __I __SO __call __dibs __on__ that __chick._Then he realized it was a guy and suddenly he felt awkward. But still. Why did he _look _like that? He'd been with several girls, all of them hot. But he had this...this...aura of intense beauty that he'd never seen in other girls before. He remembered feeling like he'd been struck by lightning and suddenly woken up to choirs of angels singing.

Gabe caught and mentally slapped himself. _Gabriel __Eduardo __Way,_he snapped at himself, _you __are __not __gay. __You __are __homophobic. __You__'__ve __been __that __way __since __the __7th __grade, __and __you __will __stay __that __way __till __the __day __you__die._

He kept repeating it to himself, until he was totally convinced that he had no feelings whatsoever for that guy. He smirked a little and focused on jogging.

He rounded the corner, nearing his starting point. He happened to glance up at the bleachers to his right. He was surprised to see his sister sitting on the bleachers, next to this guy. Actually, it was no surprise that Sierra was there. He always saw her there, spacing out like the bird-brain she was. But that guy she was with...

He focused on the guy sitting next to her and his eyes widened. It was _him. _Gabe started slowing down until he came to a complete stop right next to the bleachers. Even far away, he still looked mesmerizing. Sure he was clad in just a simple navy blue v-neck and jeans and had a leather jacket on, but they just enhanced his features all the more. The smoothness of his skin, the paleness of his neck, the softness of his bright brown wavy hair, and the intensity of his hazel eyes.

He didn't even flinch when the guy's eyes met his. They looked at him with a mix of surprise and curiosity. Gabe willed himself to move, but his body remained still.

Suddenly, something collided heavily with him and he found himself toppling to the ground. He tasted sand and dirt. He heard a groan behind him and felt something smack him on the back of his head.

"Man, what is wrong with you?" demanded Travis irritably "Why were you just standing there?"

Gabe sat up and shook his head, waking up from the daze. "Sorry man, I spaced out."

Travis shook his head and helped Gabe up. "See, this is what happens when you watch too much of those drama series."

As they walked out of the field, Gabe stole one last look at the bleachers. His eyes met the guy's, which now looked concerned, and slightly amused.

And suddenly, he didn't feel so convinced of himself anymore.

~~/~~

"And he just fell flat on his face!" said Sierra, after describing what had transpired the day before. Her friends raised their eyebrows.

"So he was just _staring _at you guys?" asked Cassadee.

"Yeah, and when we tried to get his attention, he just looked like this." Sierra bugged her eyes out and let her mouth hang open. Her friends laughed.

"Weird," said Alex "You sure he wasn't looking at William?"

Sierra shrugged. "Why would he be? He's homophobic."

"You never know," said Brian "Some people could be hypocrites."

"Anyways, moving on," said Christofer, brushing off the topic "You guys up for a game of lazertag later? A friend of mine owns this Lazertag place downtown and he gave us free coupons for 5 games."

"I'm game," said Brian. He leaned back in his chair and smirked cockily. "I happen to be a Lazertag champ."

Alex snorted. "I think you meant "used to be a Lazertag champ.""

Brian scowled. "You just wait till I kick your butt when we play."

"Oh wow," said Alex sarcastically "I'm terrified. Please have mercy."

"Stop it, Alex," chided Cassadee "I'm game."

"Me too," agreed Sierra.

"Awesome," said Christofer. He looked at Jordan. "You comin' with?"

Jordan shook his head. "Nah...I'm booked this weekend."

Cassadee raised her eyebrows. "You are?"

Jordan gave her a sly smile. "Yeah...I am."

Cassadee looked suspicious. "What would you be doing on a weekend?"

"I've got things..."

Everyone exchanged looks. That's exactly what Christofer said a week ago, until they found out that he was doing mini-gigs in the mall. Whatever Jordan was planning to do, they hoped it was good.

"Well, sucks for you," said Christofer "We'll be having fun without you."

Jordan shrugged. "No worries. I'll be enjoying myself too." He smirked at them one more time. Everyone else looked at each other, mystified. What was Jordan up to?

~~/~~

Brendon gawked at his textbook, pencil poised in mid-air. After weeks of learning coordinate geometry, he _still _didn't get it. How could he? Everything was points and measurements and numbers and letters. The very thought made his head throb.

The library was dead silent, save for the sound of pages turning, keyboards clacking and pencils scratching. Brendon looked up at Ryan. Calm as ever. Not at all struggling to compute for the angle between two segments.

Brendon knew he should ask for help, but he was too proud. He didn't want Ryan to give him that smirk that said _You __poor __thing._That smirk that pulled at the corners of his mouth slightly and made his eyes twinkle...

Brendon caught himself. _What __the __hell __was __I __saying? __Meh, __I __was __probably __thinking __of __some __other __person..._He looked down at his textbook so Ryan wouldn't catch him.

Unfortunately, Ryan noticed. He put down his pencil and laced his fingers together. "Do you need help?"

Brendon looked up. There it was. That smirk. "No."

"You sure? It never hurts to ask."

"I'm fine."

Ryan looked down at Brendon's text book. "Really? Cause you haven't even answered the first number yet."

Brendon looked down and saw the empty answer space. He huffed. "Fine."

Ryan got up and walked behind Brendon. He took the pencil from his hand and leaned over. "Alright. So first you find the slope of each line. Then you plug it in the formula..."

Brendon tried hard to listen, really he did. But it still didn't make any sense. Suddenly, he found himself spacing out, Ryan's words getting lost in his consciousness. His eyes suddenly strayed to Ryan. The closeness of their bodies would've been weird if he were with someone else. But he didn't mind. He'd always been his close to Ryan. They were best friends after all.

He looked up at Ryan's face. He'd always wondered why Ryan wasn't taken yet. He'd heard the countless stories the girls in the glee club told about Ryan and how girls couldn't get enough of him. So why wasn't he making a move? His good looks would be wasted on...

"Are you even listening?" said Ryan, breaking into his reverie.

Brendon blinked. "What?"

Ryan gave him a look. "I am not going to repeat this lesson again."

"No! No! I get it. You get the slopes and then...you plug it into the formula thing...and then you..." He looked at his calculator to make a wild guess. "press shift tan to get the angle?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Hm. Okay, you got it. Now try it." He handed the pencil back to Brendon.

Brendon looked back down at his textbook and tried to remember what he'd said. After a few minutes of solving, he put down his pencil. "Is it 37 degrees?"

Ryan looked at his answer. "Yep. Good job."

Brendon let out a cry of joy, earning loud shushes in return. Ryan hit him lightly with his pencil to scold him. Brendon rubbed the injured spot, pouting.

His phone suddenly began to vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and read the message. It was about that soiree tonight. He and Ryan were supposed to go together.

"What's that about?" asked Ryan.

"The soiree tonight. You're coming with me right?" Brendon looked up expectantly. He knew they were going to have an awesome time together, meeting a few people, possibly having a few drinks...

"Actually...I can't," said Ryan. Brendon's face fell.

"But...but you promised!"

Ryan sighed. "I know. But...my grandfather suffered a stroke yesterday and I have to stay with him in the hospital. So...yeah."

Brendon's eyes were downcast. He'd been waiting for tonight for a long time. This was the only time he got to spend with Ryan. He's almost always not available to hang out and at school, everything seems so...professional.

Ryan saw the disappointed look on his best friend's face and felt bad. He leaned over and looked him straight in the eye. "Hey."

Brendon looked up, his eyes still in puppy-dog state.

"It's okay. You'll be fine without me."

"It's not the same."

"It doesn't matter. I mean, come on, you handle the glee club without me sometimes."

"That's because I got close to them when you were there. I can't be comfortable around people without you, Ry."

Ryan shook his head, not in a disapproving manner. In fact, he was slightly amused. "Do you hear yourself, Bren? You sound like you're 6. I can't always be around you know. You gotta learn to do things on your own sometimes. Okay?"

Brendon allowed himself a small smile. "Okay."

"And hey. You might meet some pretty ladies while you're at it."

Brendon's smile widened. "Yeah I will. But you won't."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I already told you I'm not interested. Besides...I've got someone else in mind." He looked at Brendon with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Before Brendon could ask, Ryan got up and slung his bag on his shoulder. "Come on, let's go home."

~~/~~

The sun was beginning to set. Jordan looked at his watch. 5:30. He came too late. People would be leaving the park by now. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

He took a seat on the nearest bench and propped the guitar on his knee. A few pigeons gathered at his feet, pecking at the small pebbles embedded on the pavement. Jordan knew he was risking at lot by doing this. He knew if Christofer found out, he'd react. Whether he'd praise him and let him join his mini-gigs, or be furious and never speak to him again, he didn't know.

All he knew was that he'd finally get the attention he'd wanted his whole life.

He took a deep breath and began to strum. The sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees. He decided that he'd stay here all evening if he had to.

"_You __go __for __seconds __and __days, __I __live __for __moments __to __say,__" _he sang

"_That __I __may __never __get __a __second __chance, __don__'__t __throw __it __away_

_Living for dollars and dimes, they'll all diminish in time_

_Let the motion come crashin' like a plane from the sky_

_It was a long ride down the east coast_

_In a city you can't keep, could you keep up on your feet_

_And I was struck down by the west coast_

_It was a quarter to three, but I don't do sleep..."_

Suddenly, he heard coins clatter in his guitar case. He looked up and saw a young girl looking down at him, smiling.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked "You have a nice voice."

Jordan smiled and kept strumming. "_Follow __the __freeway, __break __the __routine_

_Cause everything is second to your dreams_

_This is the green light, take what you need_

_And break out of this hospital scene_

_I'm running through a stop sign _

_Cutting out the break lights_

_I don't wanna slow, slow, slow, slow, down, down_

_I'm running through a stop sign_

_Living so it feels right_

_I don't wanna slow, slow, slow, down, down"_

By that time, the coins in his guitar case grew into a small pile. One girl became several people. They were all pleasantly listening to him, smiling and nodding along. Jordan felt exhilarated. Was this what Chris felt like whenever he played in the mall? It was amazing. All these people, finally appreciating him, not calling him names. He wished this could go on forever.

He strummed his last chord and the audience clapped. He caught a lot of them whispering and nodding approvingly. He even saw some girls giggling and pointing at him, not in a mocking way. He was definitely doing this again tomorrow.

He scooped up the earnings and pocketed them. He packed up his guitar and straightened up to leave, when he looked up and saw...

"Jordan?" said Christofer, surprised.

Jordan's insides clenched. "Oh. Hey Chris..."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Oh you know...just playing guitar..." He held up his guitar. "What are you doing here."

"I went to pick up the groceries." Christofer gazed at the dispersing crowd behind Jordan. "Did you have a gig or something?"

"Huh? Oh no. I was just playing and they...happened to watch me." Jordan looked at his watch. "Whoops. Gotta go. Mom's probably looking for me."

Jordan strode past Christofer, hoping he'd get away before he started reacting. Christofer, on the other hand, did nothing but continue to stare at the thinning crowd, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

~~/~~

Brendon sat in a corner of the garden, twirling the cup of spiked Coke in his hand. Despite the colorful lights and the loud mainstream music and the dozens of people drinking, dancing and making conversation, he felt miserable. He never understood the line "alone in a crowded room" until now.

He wished Ryan were here. He wished his grandfather didn't have that stroke, so he'd be here, scolding Brendon for spiking his coke and then taking a swig. He hated everyone here. The party was mostly composed of the jocks, cheerleaders, and bratty rich kids. The people who bullied his glee club members.

Brendon decided that he had enough. He was having an awful time, and the alcohol was not doing anything to help. He got up and walked to the gate, texting his driver to come fetch him.

On his way to the exit, he felt someone collide with him and something wet blossoming on his favorite polo shirt. He looked down and saw a gigantic red Kool-Aid stain on the front.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" said the culprit. He looked up, ready to snap, then stopped himself. It was a girl, quite short, with blazing red hair and olive eyes. The lights hanging from the trees made her pale skin fill with color and the lip gloss on her thin lips shine.

"Um..it's okay," said Brendon. The girl handed him a napkin and he dabbed at his shirt, removing what he could on it. Afterwards, he threw it away and held out his hand. "I'm Brendon."

"Hayley," responded the girl. "I still feel awful about the shirt. It looked expensive."

_It __was,_ thought Brendon then decided to keep his mouth shut to be polite. "It's alright. Lovely dress by the way."

Hayley ran her hands through her skirt. "Thanks. It's been a while since I've worn a dress."

Brendon studied her for a bit. How come he's never seen her before? He'd been with his batch mates for almost 10 years, and not once did he ever see her face. "Are you new?"

"Yeah. I just moved in with my sister Cassadee and our cousin Jordan."

"You know...I have a friend named Sierra. I think she's friends with them."

"Yeah. They have this group of friends, apparently, called The Brat Pack or something." Hayley rolled her eyes. "Funny how they managed to get a group while I barely talk to anyone in school."

Brendon shrugged. "Don't feel bad. I've only had one real friend in my entire life." _The __friend __who decided __not __to __show __up __when __I __needed __him __the __most._

His eyes strayed to her dress again and he saw something glinting next to her collar. It was a small golden pin of a bird in flight, the ring attached at the tips of its wings. Like the pin Katniss Everdeen had.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, pointing at the pin.

Hayley looked at the pin admiringly. "Some store that sells amazing book merchandise. I got this because I'm a huge Hunger Games fan."

Brendon's eyes widened. He _loved _the Hunger Games. That was the only book he and Ryan would talk about for hours on end, well, aside from Harry Potter. "So am I!"

Hayley's mouth split into a huge grin. "Oh my god! Finally I'm not alone! Okay, important question: Team Peeta or Team Gale."

"Peeta," said Brendon right away "No doubt about it."

Hayley rolled his eyes. "Please. Peeta's a sissy."

"Excuse me! Peeta has been nothing but sweet and caring to Katniss. They go together perfectly!"

"Yeah but Gale can make traps and catch game. What can Peeta do? Make cakes?"

"Fine. Here's my important question: Potter or Twilight?"

"Potter!"

Brendon's eyes lit up. "Oh my god! A potterhead!"

"Yeah! Harry Potter is my life! Although I'd prefer Hermione with Harry if you ask me."

"But she and Ron are perfect!"

"Yeah but come on. Compare Ron to Harry. Outmatched!"

Even though Hayley was contradicting everything Brendon said, he could help but enjoy this conversation. She was really open and never ran out of things to say. Not to mention she was exceedingly pretty, and the way her face becomes more animated when she talks made her even more striking. Plus, something was familiar about this conversation. He was so comfortable, it was like he shared the same conversation with someone else before, someone close to him.

Either way, Ryan was right. He could meet people without him. And, right now, he'd made a new friend.


	9. The Performance

**The Performance**

Brendon shut the door of his locker sluggishly. Sleep still hung heavily in his eyes and he was sure he would hit the floor if he took another step. Somehow, instead of going home at 10, as he expected, he got home at almost 2 in the morning. He practically sent the entire evening with Hayley.

He didn't regret it though. She was the most interesting thing since...well, since Ryan. Sure, his glee club members were interesting too -each had their own story to tell, given their "condition"- but he felt like he really connected with her. Finally, someone outside of Ryan that seems to understand him.

He checked his watch. He was supposed to meet Ryan in the choir room in a few minutes. They were performing, for the first time, for the student body at the assembly. Ryan didn't think it was such a good idea, might even increase the overpowering bullying rate in the school, but Brendon thought otherwise. In fact, he thought that showcasing the talents of the outcasts might even earn then some respect from their fellow classmates.

That is, if they went through with this.

He started for the choir room, knowing Ryan might scold him for being late for rehearsals. _I wonder how Ryan would feel about Hayley_, he thought, _I mean, he did tell me to meet new people after all._

As if on cue, he felt someone bump into him. He looked down and saw that it was one other than Hayley herself. She looked the same as she did last night. Glowing white face, bright smile, flaming red hair. Only, she was in jeans and a simple shirt.

"We meet again," said Brendon.

"We should probably stop meeting like this," said Hayley chuckling.

"Probably."

"So, I hear you head a glee club here in school."

"You heard right. In fact, we're having a performance at the assembly this morning. I assume you're watching?"

Hayley shrugged. "Can't avoid it if it's during assembly." She didn't mean to offend, but the confused look on his face made her think twice "I was kidding. I'm sure it's going to be amazing. And, since you're head of the glee club, you must have an amazing voice."

Brendon felt like his ears were on fire. "Um...I don't think I'm really..."

"There you are," said Ryan behind him. "Where the hell have you been? We're starting in 30 minutes." His eyes found Hayley. "Who is this?"

"Oh, uh, Ryan, this is Hayley," introduced Brendon "Hayley, this is my best friend Ryan. I told you about him last night."

"Oh right. It's so nice to meet you Ryan." Hayley took Ryan's hand and shook it cordially.

"Nice to meet you too Hayley," said Ryan, just as cordially. He looked at Brendon. "And how do you know Hayley?"

"I met her at the soiree."

Ryan looked surprised. "You did? Congratulations! See I told you you'd be able to meet people without me. Now, we really have to go. I'm sorry Hayley."

"No worries," said Hayley "Break a leg guys!"

Brendon waved back at her, but Ryan dragged him roughly back to the choir room.

"You should've went Ryan," said Brendonas they walked. "Hayley's really cool. She likes exactly the same things as us!"

"hunger games, Harry Potter, doctor who and game of thrones?"

"Yeah! Isn't that awesome?"

"But I was right though. You were able to meet someone without me."

"Yeah fine. You were right."

Ryan smirked, pleased that he was, once again, right. But somehow, he could shake the weird feeling he had about Hayley. She didnt look like a potential stalker. She looked too... normal. But still...if Brendon hung around her...

"Hey guys," said Brendon as they entered the choir room. "Sorry I'm late. I ran into someone." He flipped through the clear book containing song sheets. "So, what song are we doing this morning?"

"The muse by Darren Criss," said Ryan.

"Really? Since when?"

"Since you picked it last week?"

Brendon chuckled, finally remembering. He patted Ryan on the shoulder. "Ah Ryan. What would I do without you?"

He faced his choir mates. "Alright, so we're going to mix things up a bit. We're still following the same format. However, for this song, I thought we should have two leads."

Ryan rolled his eyes. Typical Brendon. Always spontaneous. But Ryan saw it coming. That's why he decided to practice beforehand. Besides, who else would he pick...

"I decided that my other lead would be," said Brendon, pausing dramatically. "William Beckett."

Ryan paused in surprise. What the _hell?_ He looked at William and saw that he was completely caught off guard. He looked so unprepared.

"Bren," said Ryan "You do know William's new, right?"

"Yes," replied Brendon "That's exactly why I picked him as the second lead! This is his time to show everyone what he's made of!"

"Yeah but don't you think it's unfair to the others?" Ryan looked warily at the other members. "You haven't given this opportunity to them."

"I think the song really fits William," said one glee member

"Yeah! He's got such a nice voice," said another.

"Yeah, his voice fits the sultry nature of the song," said another, wiggling his eyebrows at William.

"He's going to rock it so hard!"

"Everyone's going to love him!"

Brendon looked at Ryan and gave him the same smirk Ryan always gave him. But Ryan wasn't going down without a fight.

"Well, what does William say about it?"

Brendon looked at William. "Well, William. You up for it?"

William grinned. "Are you kidding me? I love this song. I've been practicing it ever since you picked it."

Brendon looked at Ryan again. "Strike two."

Ryan was fuming. "Fine! Fine! It's your glee club. Whatever." Ryan tossed his bag onto the piano chair and sat down on one of the seats.

Brendon didn't seem to notice. He rubbed his hands together. 'Alright. Let's rehearse!"

~~/~~

Jordan hid behind his locker, checking on his myspace account. He recorded some stuff he'd been working on and put them up the night before. When he woke up, the plays on the music section reached 20. Now it rose to 60 and still counting. There were even some comments like "Wow! Great stuff!" "You should have your own concert one day!" "This is my kind of music!"

He still couldn't get over how cool it was that people like him now, that people appreciate him this way. It beats the lonely days in the bleachers or the cafeteria tables back in his old school.

He still didn't know how Christofer reacted yesterday. He didn't look mad or glad at all. He looked rather surprised and stunned. Like he didn't know what was going on.

_Oh __well_, thought Jordan, _he__'__ll __get __used __to it __eventually._

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and faced Christofer. He was holding his iPhone and looking rather confused.

"What's up?" asked Jordan.

"You have a myspace?" asked Christofer, like he couldn't believe Jordan of all people would have one.

"Yeah...I've had one for a while..."

"Yeah, but I've never seen the music section before."

"Yeah well, I kind of have a thing for music."

"Oh..." said Christofer, still looking confused. "Sorry...it's just. The park thing...and..."

"What about it?"

Christofer shook his head. "Nothing. Forget about it." He put an arm around Jordan, though it didn't seem as welcoming as he expected it to be "Come on. We're going to be late for the assembly."

~~/~~

"I don't understand why we have to watch a bunch of gay and disabled kids sing," complained Travis as they filed into the gym "I mean, we hear a lot of those on the radio. What's the difference?"

"It's mandatory," said Gabe shrugging "What can you do?" Secretly though, he'd been waiting all morning for the presentation. He didn't know why, but he wanted to see the guy sing. How does he look like when he sings? Did it sound amazing? He didn't know. All he knew was that these thoughts weirded him out and he decided that all he wanted to see were the hot lesbians.

The gym was filled with noise as the students filed in. It gradually died down as President Stump took his place at the podium. He was a tall, thin man, with bleached blonde hair combed way over one side, obviously to cover his bald spot. His bright blue eyes surveyed the crowd.

"Good morning students," he greeted "Before today's proceedings, I have some announcements. Vandalism is still not tolerated in this school. So, whoever decided to write 'Mr. Stump is a great big jackass" will be punished severely."

Sierra, who was seated some seats away from Gabe, saw Dave Strauchman, elbowing Alex Gaskarth, who looked like he was going to collapse from his laughing fit. She rolled her eyes. That boy didn't need to cover anything up. He'd always be clean.

"Some of our students will be performing for us this morning. Everyone is expected to shut up and listen politely. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you The Glenndale High glee club!"

Only a handful of people clapped as the glee club took it's place on the stage. The choir started humming a tune, and suddenly everyone was interested. It was a haunting kind of tune, the kind that draws you in almost immediately. All eyes were turned to the man under the spotlight.

"_You__'__re __a __diamond __that __I__'__m __afraid __to __touch,_" sang Brendon, his figure casting a shadow on the stage

"_You__'__re __damn __near __flawless __and __I__'__m __sure __you__'__d __cut __on __my_

_Eyes, my hands, my head, my heart_

_You'd tear this canvas skin apart_

_Oh what a waste of human art that'd be"_

A second spotlight shone on the guy beside him. Gabe couldn't stop staring. He was so sure gigantic angel wings would sprout somewhere on his back.

"_You__'__re __a __dungeon __but __you__'__re __made __of __glass,_" sang William.

"_Your prisoners have no idea they're trapped_

_Cause you look so beautiful inside_

_It makes us feel like we're alive_

_But Lord knows we'll never survive your walls "_

"_But __didn't you __know __that __all __along,__"_ the whole glee club sang together

"_You didn't need to hear your song_

_And if you don't know that_

_Then you might as well be dead"_

"_You __make __me __feel __so __alive,__" _sang William and Brendon

"_But it's consequence, I want to be dead_

_Was it how you arrived? I can't tell_

_Or was it in the way you left us here"_

"_But didn't you know that all along_

_You didn't need to hear your song_

_And if you don't know that then you might as well-_

_Might as well oh"_

"_You didn't need to hear your song_

_Cause you just knew it all along_

_But you didn't know that so you might as well—_

_Oh might as well be dead"_

Suddenly the whole gym erupted with applause. Brendon smiled up at everyone. They loved it. They actually loved it. They knew that a bunch of misfits were singing, and yet they managed to put on a good show. The praise was genuine and he knew it.

"Man," commented Travis with contempt "I don't understand why everyone's clapping. They're a bunch of fags. They don't even sound that great."

Gabe wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on William. _Whoa _was the only word going through his mind. He looked completely different when he sang. Brighter. Stronger. He wasn't sure if it was the spotlight tricking him, but it didn't matter. He'd forgotten to breathe during the whole performance. Now he was concentrating on getting sufficient amount of air in his lungs.

Travis nudged him. "Dude. You okay?"

Gabe blinked. "Yeah...yeah..."

"Well come on. Let's get outta here. I'd rather be in English right now."

Gabe stood up with Travis, stealing one last look at the glowing William before taking off.


	10. Much to your dislike

Much to your dislike

Once the small ceremony ended, the glee club retreated back to the choir room. Smiles and congratulations were exchanged. Surprisingly, despite the fact the club was mostly composed of outcasts, the audience received them very well. For the first time in an excruciatingly long time, they weren't made fun of by their schoolmates.

What was even more interesting was the fact that people began noticing William now that he had stepped into the spotlight. Several of the girls in the glee club overheard cheerleaders gossiping how gorgeous his facial features are or how amazing his hair is.

Left and right, the other member congratulated William. All of them knew how good Brendon was, but they were impressed at how well he performed-almost as good as Brendon they said.

William couldn't help but blush and smile sheepishly. He wasn't used to this kind of attention. He never _had _this kind of attention before. From a tiny insignificant wallflower, he suddenly bloomed into something completely inconspicuous. And he loved it.

He couldn't help but wonder though...did Sierra's brother get to see him perform?

"Hey!" Someone clapped him on the back. He turned and saw Sierra, grinning madly. He broke into a smile and embraced her tightly.

"You are _amazing _up there!" she exclaimed "I didn't think you had it in you!"

"So did I," said William chuckling "You really think I did okay?"

"Are you kidding me? The whole school is talking about you! Hey Brendon!" Sierra motioned for Brendon to come over.

Brendon came briskly. "What's up, Sherry?"

Sierra gave him a pointed look. "Funny. Anyway, props to you for giving William the spotlight."

"I know right," agreed Brendon "Wasn't he incredible? For a first timer too!" He rubbed William's shoulder. William's ears became a deep red.

"Hey, where's Ryan?" asked Sierra "I haven't seen him the whole day."

"He's over there. Hey Ryan!" he called out "Come over here for a sec!"

Ryan arrived a few seconds later. Despite the cheerful atmosphere, he seemed quite sullen, and slightly disappointed looking, like he didn't get something he wanted.

"Hey guys," he said, just as gloomily.

"Ryan, what did you think of William's performance?' asked Brendon, putting an arm around William.

"It was okay," replied Ryan. He saw the confusion on Brendon's face and decided to change his tone. "I mean, it was great! Fantastic. Amazing job."

"Thanks," said William, not sure whether to be flattered by the comment or not.

"Anyway," said Ryan "Word on the street is that report cards are out today."

Sierra's eyes grew wide. "You're kidding."

"I hardly ever kid so...yeah it's true."

Brendon placed two fingers at his temple. "This is just great. I finally get the glee club the attention I wanted, and now I have the pleasure of seeing my horrible math grade."

"At least you're not failing it," said Sierra, ruffling her hair in frustration "I'm failing biology!"

"How are you failing Biology?" asked Ryan.

"You don't know what I go through when I'm in that class. Like, they have so many terms, and cycles, and parts, and...and...and...my brain can't take that much information!" Sierra clutched the ends of her long dark hair, ready to rip them out.

"Well, maybe if you explained to your parents that you're having a hard time, maybe they'll understand," said William helpfully.

Sierra laughed spitefully. "You don't know my parents, especially my dad."

~~/~~

"So I heard report cards are out today," said Ryland, as he and the rest of Gabe's group hung around the bleachers next to the football field. Gabe's stomach churned. Everyone else was busy snorting and shaking their heads to notice his expression.

"Well, damn. There goes my weekend," remarked Nate, chugging down the last of his RedBull.

'Yeah like, what the hell am I going to say to my parents?" said Ryland chuckling "Hey mom, I'm sorry I'm failing history because I don't give a crap about the stupid Holocaust."

"Or like, hey dad, I'm failing math cause there's this really hot girl who sits in front of me and like, I couldn't see the blackboard," said Eric, receiving high fives from the rest of the guys.

"If I were you, don't even show them," said Travis "I wouldn't. I'd burn it." He laughed and turned to Gabe, who still looked horrified "What the hell's up with you?"

"I'm failing spanish," he whispered. Travis snorted.

"So? We're at failing at least two subjects."

"Yeah and I thought you liked Latina pop music like...I dunno Ricky Martin," said Ryland.

"You guys don't get it," said Gabe shaking his head "My dad...my dad will kill me."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Listen to me, Gabe. You're almost 18 years old. You're almost _a man. _And a man does not allow himself to be bossed around by his parents. You're your _own _boss."

"Hear hear," agreed the rest of the group.

Travis raised his eyebrows. "Kay?"

Gabe smiled weakly. "Okay." But it didn't work that way, not in his family.

~~/~~

"On three," said Alex. The six of them stood on a circle, preparing to open their report cards. All were nervous, with their own expectations and worries.

"One...two...three!" They all flipped their cards open and read the scores.

"Ew," said Jordan, looking at his card in disgust "My english grade sucks."

"I bet you I got lower," said Christofer, looking over at Jordan's card "See, I was right."

"How the hell did I get a D in history?" demanded Brian, looking at his card in disbelief.

"Probably cause you sleep half the period," replied Alex nonchalantly.

"Hey! If they didn't put history in the morning I would've been fine!" said Brian defensively.

"Sure, Brian." Alex looked over at Cassadee's card. She pressed it to her chest quickly.

"Hey!" she said.

"Aw come on Cass," said Alex "We all showed our grades. Don't be selfish."

Cassadee huffed and revealed her card. Everyone else gathered around her and exclaimed loudly.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE GRADES!" cried Christofer, pointing a finger at the card.

"Are you like some super genius or something?" asked Brian.

"I don't even see you studying at home!" said Jordan incredulously "What is this?"

Cassadee blushed. "Guys...don't overreact. Its embarrassing."

"She's right guys," said Alex "Now Cass, may I take your card home so I may show my mom your grades to pass them as my own?" Cassadee made a face and smacked him with the card.

The only one silent was Sierra. She stared in horror at her card. A large fat red F stared right back at her. Biology. Her ultimate downfall.

"Hey we haven't seen Sierra's yet," said Christofer. He looked over her shoulder at her grades. She didn't even flinch.

"My dad is going to murder me," she said, her voice trembling.

"Let me see that," said Alex, plucking the card from her hands. He examined it and nodded in understanding. "But you've always had a hard time in Bio."

"Yeah but...I've never _failed _anything."

"Oh yeah. I remember when you got a D in math last year and you called me up at like 10 in the evening," said Christofer, remembering "You sounded like your grandma died or something."

"That's right," said Alex, also remembering "You have tiger dad."

"But...you're not even chinese," said Brian. Cassadee elbowed him.

"You don't have to be chinese to have a tiger dad," she said.

Sierra made no remark. Murder was probably too light in comparison as to what her dad was going to do her when he finds her grades out. She needed to find a way out of this.

Fortunately, she saw Ms. Asher, her biology teacher, walking down the hall. She immediately ran after her, hoping that being the kind and understanding person that she is, she'll reconsider her grades.

"Ms Asher!" she cried. Ms. Asher turned around and waited as Sierra came to a stop in front of her.

"Yes, Sierra?' she asked.

"M-Ms Asher," said Sierra panting "Please...you need to reconsider my grades...I...I can't be really failing Biology, can I?"

Ms. Asher looked at her sympathetically. "Unfortunately, you really are."

"B-but, there must be something I can do raise my grade. I'll do anything!"

Ms. Asher looked at the card and up at Sierra's desperate face. She shook her head. "The grades are final. I'm sorry." She turned and walked away.

Sierra sank to the floor, all hope lost. Her friends circled her and pulled her to her feet.

"It could be worse," said Christofer helpfully. She shook her head.

"I want someone to give me a quick death, right now," she said in a dead tone.

"Hey," said Alex rubbing her shoulder "It's not the end of the world. You'll be fine."

_No I wont, _thought Sierra, _none of you know my father. _

_~~/~~_

Gabe stared at the gigantic red F right next to the word Spanish on his card. He's prayed that this would never happen, but, unfortunately, it did. All his friends were gone, probably burning their cards in the nearest dumpster. He was left alone to mourn his fate.

At that moment, his spanish teacher Mr. Suarez walked briskly by. Gabe watched him and thought _He's a nice guy. Maybe he'll reconsider. _He decided to run after him.

"Mr. Suarez!" he cried after him. Mr. Suarez turned and waved.

"_Si _Gabriel," he greeted.

"Um...Mr. Suarez," said Gabe, not sure where to start "I really need you to reconsider my grade. It...I can't have it like this."

Mr. Suarez peered from the top of his glasses at the report card and back up at Gabe. "You want me to change your grade?"

Gabe looked at him hopefully. "Maybe? Please?"

Mr. Suarez raised his eyebrow. "You know I can't do that."

"But...but you're a nice guy!"

"It's not fair to the others who actually try. I don't see you trying Gabe."

"I do try! It's just...I don't understand the difference between El and La and what the hell donde esta la biblioteca means and-"

"Trate de estudiar, entonces entenderás," said Mr. Suarez in reply. He smiled and left a confused Gabe staring at his retreating figure.

"I don't even know what that meant," he said to himself.

~~/~~

Gabe and Sierra were silent on the way home. The sun began to glow brightly in the evening light, the darkness slowly catching up to it. The birds began to chirp their final song. But none of those mattered. They both were too absorbed in their own worries.

Sierra shattered the silence. "I failed Biology."

"I failed Spanish," replied Gabe.

"What do you think dad will do to us?" asked Sierra, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"The best thing he can do is ground us. I don't want to get the belt."

"Or have him give us the gut-wrenching sermon."

'At least mom's more forgiving."

With heavy hearts, they entered the house and dropped their things. They looked around. Their mother was usually home around this time.

"Mom?" called Gabe "Where are you?"

"I'm in the studio!" their mother called back. Sierra and Gabe looked at each other and proceeded into the small room next to the kitchen.

Their mother seemed to be busy making another one of her large-scale artworks. The floor was a complete mess. Tubes of glue, paint, wax, sheets of paper, plastic and cardboard, cutters, scissors, any kind of art material, you name it. Everything was scattered around. At the center of the mess was a gigantic paper mache-type sculpture of a lady wearing a gas-mask. It was 6 feet tall, around as tall as Gabe.

It wasn't an unusual sight. Their mother was a professional artists, making art everyday, selling them to galleries, and earning lots of money. Practically every gallery had her name. Lindsay Way.

"Hey guys!" she greeted them "What's up?"

"How much will that one cost?' asked Sierra, staring up at the towering sculpture.

"Oh I dunno," said Lindsay "I havent worked that out yet. All I know is that I'm selling it for more than 500 dollars." She gingerly lined a piece of cardboard with glue-gun wax.

"But enough about me, how's school?"

Gabe and Sierra looked at each other. Their mother sensed their uneasiness and stopped working. She removed her gloves.

"What is it?"

"It's report card week," said Gabe. Their mother understood immediately.

"What's the damage?" she asked. Gabe and Sierra exchanged glances again.

"What time will dad be home?" asked Sierra.

Suddenly, they heard the door slam and keys rattling. From outside, they heard a voice call "Lindsay!". Lindsay looked at them sympathetically.

"You better go," she said, leaving the room ahead of them. Cautiously, they followed after.

They found their father in the kitchen, taking lasagna out of the oven. He gave their mother a look while removing his mittens.

"You almost burnt this," he said.

"I did not," said Lindsay "It's not even 30 minutes. See, look. It's not even that cooked yet."

"I know you," he said "You wouldn't have heard the timer."

"Okay, okay, Gerard, I concede," she said, kissing him lightly "How was work?"

Gerard sighed deeply. "I've had worse days." He saw his kids standing timidly near the door. "Hey kids. Haven't seen you all day. How's school?"

They swallowed. Answering that question from their father was a different story.

Lindsay sensed this and stepped in. "Come on, dinner's ready. I don't want my half-cooked lasagna to get cold."

"It's practically overcooked Linds," said Gerard, following her out of the kitchen. Gabe and Sierra sighed with relief. Thank God for mom.

It was quiet at the dinner table. Gabe and Sierra silently ate their lasagna, while tightly crossing their fingers, hoping that their dad didn't bring up the subject of their report cards.

"What happened at work, hon?" asked Lindsay.

Gerard sighed deeply again. "Well, you remember the Robot Monkey cartoon we were supposed to put out? Well we were going to sell it to the producer today, but the guy I instructed to keep the funds lost _half _of it, and I don't even know where the hell it went. The idiot probably spent it all, freaking dirtbag. Now we have to start all over again. Plus we're behind schedule for Meteor Boy, so today is not a good day for me." Gerard was practically stabbing his pasta as he said it.

Gabe and Sierra kept quiet. On a regular day, their father would be monstrous with bad grades. But when he's got problems with his animation company? Thats something else entirely.

"Oh by the way kids," said Gerard, turning toward them "I was talking with my colleague whose son goes to your school and told me that he's been failing english. Said today was report card day."

Gabe and Sierra squeezed their eyes shut. Fantastic. The one time they hoped their dad would be too overwhelmed with work, he decides to see their failing grades.

"Where are they?"

Gabe and Sierra exchanged uneasy glances. Their mother kept silent. Gerard looked at their expressions.

"Is there something you aren't telling me?" he said. The room suddenly dropped fifty degrees.

Gabe and Sierra slowly took their cards from their pockets and handed it to their father. He snatched it from them and read. Gabe and Sierra watched fearfully as his eyes narrowed into slits.

"What the hell are _these?_" he demanded, slamming the cards on the table. The plates, silverware, and the rest of the table's occupants jumped in response.

"This is _disgusting,_" he went on, his voice as hard as granita "Look at this. Your other grades don't even make up for it. Are you proud of this? Would you flaunt this to everyone in school?" He waved the cards. Gabe and Sierra shook their heads silently.

"Then _why _is this here? If you aren't proud of it, this this should even _be _here." His voice became menacing. "You aren't slacking off, are you?"

Gabe and Sierra shook their heads.

"Good. Because you know what happens to people who slack off. They end up on the streets, begging for food. Do you _want _to end up on the streets?"

And again.

Gerard looked at the cards again. "I didn't think so. These aren't because of your friends, are they? Are they keeping you from studying?"

And again.

Gerard crumpled the cards and tossed them away. He got up and pointed at them. "I want those grades up next term. Or else." He stalked away, leaving the rest of his family stunned.

Gabe and Sierra couldn't move. He'd given the same speech to them before, but this time, he spat out the words like they were poison. He called their grades disgusting. It was like calling _them _disgusting.

Lindsay got up and wrapped her arms around her horrified children. "At least he didn't hit you. That would've been worse"

Gabe and Sierra couldn't do anything but swallow. No...but it was almost like he did.


	11. Contact

Gabe felt like a zombie walking through the school hallway. He hadn't slept for three nights. Every time he closed his eyes, he'd see his father glaring right back at him. Repeating the words he said when he saw his Spanish grade.

_This is disgusting. Do you want to end up on the streets. You better get your grades up or else._

Or else. The way his father said it made it seem like he didn't say it for the sake of saying it. Gabe knew what his father was capable of. That made him sick to the stomach.

Travis, on the other hand, was fed up. He stopped gabe in his tracks and shook him.

"Gabe," he said "This has to stop."

"What are you talking about?" asked Gabe still dazed.

"This whole hating yourself because you pissed off your dad with your grades. You've been doing this for 5 years now. It's gotta stop."

Gabe looked at him in confusion. "what do you mean-"

"look man," said Travis, looking at him straight in the eye "your dad is being a senseless bastard. He can't understand that you aren't and will never be as smart as the nerds in this school. So what if you flunked Spanish? It's not as bad as, what, getting kicked out of school. Or like, doing drugs, right? You ain't a druggie right?"

Gabe shook his head.

"you see? One failed grade won't get you killed. And Spanish is like nothing." the rest of the guys murmured in agreement

As much as Gabe wanted to tell Travis off for calling his father a bastard, he knew he was right. His father couldnt accept the fact that he's stupid. And there really are worse things than failing Spanish.

"but-" said Gabe.

"Look Gabe," said Travis, clearly exasperated "if your father can't accept you for who you are, then why don't you just leave? If I had your dad, I would've left him long ago."

That idea never occured to him. He could just pack his things and start a new life, without having to live up to his fathers expectations. Still, it was horrible idea. He can't just do that to his family. Especially not to his mother.

Fortunately, his group decided to drop the matter later on. He trailed behind, watching in envy at how care free his friends were. Laughing and making jokes like they didn't have to face the wrath of their fathers at home. He hated his life.

Just as they were heading toward the front doors to skip school for the third time this month, he saw him. The angel. Clad in a simple plaid polo and tight jeans. His wavy brown hair hanging over his thick rimmed glasses. Their eyes met momentarily then flickered away.

But Travis had him cornered.

"Well, well," he said. "if it isn't the star of the show. Liking the attention, huh faggot? How's this for attention?"

He knocked the books out of the guys hands, took his glasses and crushed them under his shoe. The rest of the group laughed cruelly as they left him there, trying to gather his things with shaky fingers.

Gabe stayed behind. It was pitiful watching the guy try to cover. He knew he should be going after Travis, but instead he found himself helping the guy fix his books.

"you alright?" he asked. The guy just stared at him with those chocolate brown eyes, as if he were wondering why a guy like Gabe was helping him instead of beating him up.

Gabe placed the books back in the guys hands. "here you go."

"thanks," said the guy, still looking right at him.

Gabe gave him a small smile. "Dont mention it. What's your name?"

The guy opened his mouth to answer but, at that moment; the bell rang. The guy got up and left, without so much as a goodbye. Gabe watched his form retreat into the mass of bodies gathered in the corridor. And slowly, his lips pulled into a smile.

~~/~~

"God, I really hate Mr. Wentz," said Alex, shouldering his bag irritably "2 pop quizzes and I failed BOTH."

"Isn't he always like that?" asked Cassadee as she accompanied him out into the hall "I mean, from what you've told me, he acts like a woman on PMS week everyday."

"I think he has some teenager phobia or something," said Alex rolling his eyes "but that's not the point. I'm gonna end up failing math because of him!"

"oh well, you'll figure something out." she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "you're not stupid anyway."

Alex smiled at her. "thank you, love. I appreciate your concern."

Cassadee checked her watch. "well, I got class. See ya at lunch."

Alex waved good bye as she left and headed for his locker, where Brian stood smirking at him.

"well, you look rather cheeky today," remarked Alex, fishing out his notebook.

"I believe there's something you're not telling me," said Brian.

"huh? What do you mean?"

"you called Cassadee love just a few minutes ago."

Alex snorted. "I've been calling her love since I was 13. It's a joke. It doesn't mean anything."

Brian nodded, but the smirk still stayed on his face. "have you heard of the bestfriend theorem?"

"the what theorem?"

"the best friend theorem. It's states that if a boy and a girl have been best friends for over a long period of time, then there is a possibility that they could fall in love."

Alex laughed. "And you believe in that crap?"

"It's not crap if it's true," said Brian shrugging.

"Prove it then."

Brian counted it off with his fingers. "Ron and hermione. Katniss and gale. Jacob and Bella. Rachel and Ross. Monica and Chandler. Kim possible an Ron stoppable-"

"any non-fictional couples?"

"my parents. Possibly yours too."

"okay fine." conceded Alex "say it is true. Then why haven't I fallen in love with Sierra?"

"because you only knew her for 2 years." explained Brian "you knew Cassadee since you were kids. That's when it usually starts."

Alex still wasn't convinced. "what makes you think I like Cassadee?"

"You're beside her every minute of everyday. You always walk together to class. You sit next to her at lunch. You talk about her a lot."

"because I haven't seen her in 10 years and our only means of communication was through the computer!" said alex in exasperation.

"okay fine." Brian studied Alex. "so, what would you do if someone else liked her and asked her out?"

Alex was taken aback. What would he do? "I...I..."

"you see?" said Brian, leaning back against the locker "you can't answer. That means something."

Alex stared hard at Brian. He wasn't sure if he had a point but... "But what happens if she doesn't like me back?"

Brian shrugged. "well you don't know that, now do you?"

"yeah, but what if?"

Brian lifted himself off the lockers and rubbed Alex's shoulder. "you'll know what to do." with that, he strutted away, whistling.

~/~

After watching his friends disappear out of the school gates, Gabe decided to head to his next class. As much as he wanted to skip, he felt like he needed some time away from his friends. They didn't understand his predicament. Most of them were rich and spoiled rotten since birth. He didn't even know what travis's parents were like, since he barely talked about them.

All he knew was, he was the only one with an insanely strict dad and he hated it.

Gabe checked his schedule and groaned. Spanish was next. The bane of his existence.

Without a word, he slipped into the classroom. Being the unlucky day that it was, all the seats were taken. All except one. Next to a slim boy with light brown hair and thick rimmed glasses.

Wait... thought Gabe. He squinted at him. The boy adjusted his glasses and happened to catch his eye. He turned away almost instantly.

Gave was so startled, he forgot to breathe. He was in this class all along and he didn't notice!

Today might not be so unlucky after all.

Gabe approached the boy. "hey is this seat taken?"

The boy looked at him, the same way he did when Gabe helped him with his books, when he first saw him at the bleachers. "No. Go ahead."

Gabe slid into the seat and began unpacking his things. He felt the weight of the boy's gaze on him and suddenly felt very conscious.

"Are you following me or something?" the boy finally asked.

Gabe chuckled. "Believe me. I've got better things to do than be in this class."

"Then, why aren't you with your friends?"

Gabe paused and looked at him. The boy's cheeks suddenly flushed with embarrassment, and he avoided his gaze.

"Sorry if I'm being too demanding..." he said.

"Nah," said Gabe, zipping up his bag "It's cool. I just needed to be away from them for a while."

"You're Sierra's brother, right?"

"Yep. The one and only." Gabe ventured a smile. "You know, I've never caught your name. I mean, I think Sierra talks about you at home but-"

"It's William," said the boy, reciprocating the smile "William Beckett."

Gabe couldn't resist another chuckle. "Wow. Fancy name." He looked back up at William and couldn't help but think that no other name would be as perfect. "It suits you. I'm Gabe."

They sat in complete and slightly awkward silence, until William started to laugh. Gabe looked at him curiously.

"What?" he asked.

William shook his head. "Nothing. It's just...my entire life I've always been the most obscure wallflower. And now, the most popular kid in school is sitting next to me and asking me for my name."

"Yeah, well," said Gabe shrugging "Any friend of Sierra's is a...you know...friend of mine."

"Really? You've met her other friends?"

"Well, yeah. I mean they come over a lot. But I only know two of them. They increased in number the last time I saw them."

"How are they like?" William seemed geniunely curious.

"Um...well, one looks like he could be in a boy band and the other one looks like a stoner hippie."

William nodded, suddenly not curious anymore. Gabe cleared his throat.

"Hey," he said "You free later this afternoon? We could hang out...with Sierra if you wanna." He added as a precaution.

William raised a brow. "Hang out with me? You're willing to take that risk?"

"Well my friends and I usually hang out past 8, so you don't have to worry about them about beating you up...or me up for that matter."

William smiled. "That's nice of you, but I can't. I've got glee."

Gabe felt slightly disappointed, but he kept his face straight. "How about tomorrow?"

"Same."

"Day after that?"

"Same."

"Day after that?"

"Same."

"You're not trying avoid me are you?" asked Gabe suspiciously. William laughed.

"I'm serious!" he said "Ever since I joined glee club...well, it's been my entire life now. And Brendon tends to get too passionate about it, so we can't skip any session."

Just then, Mr. Suarez entered the room and class immediately began. Gabe spaced out instantly and unconsciously turned his attention to William as he scribbled down notes. He didn't know why, but something deep, deep down inside of him wanted to know more of the boy sitting next to him.

Then suddenly, he had an idea. A crazy, possibly socially suicidal idea. An idea knew that just might get him what he wanted.

~~/~~

"So I talked with Brian in class a few minutes ago," said Sierra as she, Alex and Cassadee walked to art class "He says the two of you might have a thing."

_I'm going to kill him later_, thought Alex. Cassadee, on the other hand, was geniunely confused.

"Might have a thing?" she repeated "You mean, he thinks we might end up together?"

"I mean, it's not a bad idea," said Sierra, shrugging innocently.

"But isn't that weird?"

"I agree," said Alex immediately "It is weird. And not very practical."

"But you guys know the best friend theorem, don't you?" asked Sierra.

Alex groaned. "Not you too."

"Best friend theorem?" asked Cassadee "What's that?"

"It's when a boy and a girl who have been best friends for a long time-"

"Happen to fall in love," completed Alex, clearly annoyed "Look, that thing isn't true. And if it were, you and I would've ended up together."

Sierra looked at him in disgust. "Okay, ew. There are valid reasons for that."

"Name them."

"One, you're clearly not my type. Two, two years is way to short for "a long time". Three, you two know each other better than any one else in the world. Why _wouldn't _you fall in love?"

Cassadee shook her head. "I still think it's weird."

"Yeah," said Alex in agreement "Plus, clearly her type would be someone like Dave." Sierra elbowed him hard in the ribs in response.

The art room was crowded when they went in. Not only was it filled with students. Every inch of floor space was taken up by easels, stools and palette stands. There wasn't even space for a model, which meant only one thing. It was portrait day.

Inwardly, Sierra was glad he wasn't here, otherwise she'd have to face the humiliation of...but she thought too soon. Because there he was, sitting by his lonesome at the far end of the room, staring out of the window just like he did in biology.

"Wow," muttered Alex, grinning "Speak of the devil."

"Shut up," hissed Sierra.

"Alright class," said Mr. Trohman, making his voice heard over the buzz of the students. "As you all know, today is portrait day. So, right now, you will be picking your partners. Once you have picked your partners, one of you will sketch his or her portrait on the sketchpads. Sketches will be submitted at the end of the period."

"Hey Alex," said Sierra immediately "Do you wanna-" She was too late. Alex and Cassadee were already picking an easel by a lit window.

Sierra looked around desperately, but everyone seemed to already have a partner. Even the people she thought no one would ever partner up with. Finally, the only one left was Dave. As usual.

Trying her best not to scream, she sucked in a breath and marched over to Dave's area. It was only when her form cast a shadow over him did he look up at her.

"Yes?' he asked.

"I'm your partner," she said through gritted teeth.

Dave frowned. "No. I decided to work alone."

"Well, too bad. The class is even. Now, am I gonna be your partner or what?"

Dave studied her. "I think I'm gonna go with or what."

Sierra was about to burst. "Look, if we don't pair up right now-"

"Start sketching!" Mr. Trohman called as he paced the room.

Dave sighed. "Alright. Sit down."

Sierra sat down on the stool and brought out her charcoal pencils. She looked up and saw, to her irritation, that Dave faced the easel the other way and was flipping to a clean sheet.

"Hey!" she said indignantly "I'm supposed to draw!"

"Um no," said Dave, not looking up from the easel "We both know who's the better artist here."

"I've never seen you draw in my life," spat Sierra "What makes you think-"

"Look, do you want this done quickly or not?" asked Dave, looking around from the easel. In grudging agreement, Sierra scowled and kept still, listening to Dave's pencil scratch on the rough paper.

"You know this is actually a good spot," said Alex, flipping the pad for a clean sheet 'The light's not very bright."

"Yeah," agreed Cassadee "Come on, we have 30 minutes."

"Right, okay," said Alex. He peered over the easel and studied Cassadee's still form carefully. He couldn't help but think to himself, _Why would Brian and Sierra think I'd fall in love with Cassadee? It's ridiculous. She's..._

At that moment, the sun shone brighter and illumined Cassadee's figure. And suddenly, Alex wasn't sure what he was looking at anymore. It wasn't because the sun was blinding him. Rather, his model transformed into something entirely different.

Her skin, once dull in the shade, began to glow as it bathed in the warm, bright light. Her eyes twinkled as bright as distant planets on a clear night sky, bright hazel planets a million miles away. Her hair gleamed like polished wood. No...richer than wood. Chocolate. Deep, warm chocolate that seemed almost alive in the sun. The freckles on her face were like stars, tracing her skin like intricate constellations, forming amazing patters.

Alex dropped his pencil in surprise. Who was this? Who was this beautiful creature sitting before him on a...

"Alex," Cassadee called for the fifth time.

Alex blinked rapidly. "W-what?"

"You done yet? We've only got 15 minutes left."

"Um...um...yeah. Yeah. Hold on," said Alex, shaking his head and finally starting on the sketch.

He had no idea what had just happened. But suddenly, the best friend theorem didn't seem so stupid anymore.


	12. First kiss

"Times up!" called Mr. Trohman. After what seemed like eternity, art class was finally over. Sierra hopped off the stool, massaging her sore and almost flat behind. She creeped up behind Dave to sneak a peek, but he was already ripping the sheet off the pad.

"Hey," she said "Dont I at least get a look?"

Dave thought about it for a while. "Uh...no. Teacher's eyes only. You can have the draft though." He handed her another sheet of paper, which she gaped at in disgust. It was a stick figure version of her with a messy scrawl of hair, two circles on her chest area indicating she was in fact a female, and a caption that read SHERRY.

"What kind of draft is this?" she demanded angrily. Dave shrugged with a cheeky grin on his face.

"I ended early," he said "So I made that. Enjoy." He turned and went to submit the real artwork, leaving Sizerra fuming at his wake.

She caught up with Alex on his way out. "Hey. Where's cassadee?"

"oh she had to help Jordan carry a few things," said Alex "Apparently, he has extremely weak arms for a guy his age."

"Apparently. So." She nudged him playfully. "How was art class?"

There was a sense of uneasiness in his voice. "Um...it was fine, I guess."

"I saw you, you know."

"Saw me what?"

"Staring at Cassadee."

Alex stiffened. "I wasn't staring."

Sierr scoffed. "Please. You looked like a gaping fish." She bulged out her eyes and unhinged her jaw, giving a more or less accurate impression of a gaping fish.

"Okay, one, I did not look like that. And two, I had to stare at her. I was sketching her!"

"Well, you could've done it without looking like God slapped you across the face. What happened over there? Did you-"

"Can we not talk about this anymore? I have to go." Alex walked away hastily, trying as hard as he could to forget whatever happened at that moment. Sierra gazed after him, grinning. She pulled out her phone and began to text Brian.

—•—

Ryan checked his watch. 10 minutes late. He shook his head exasperatedly. This was so unlike Brendon. Usually he'd be 20 minutes early to glee club just to get everything ready for the day's session. That was when he used to care about glee club.

Now, Ryan wasn't sure if he still did.

He checked his watch again. 12 minutes. That was it. Ryan headed for the door, already set on hunting mode, when Brendon burst through the door, talking loudly on his phone.

"So it's a date then?" he was saying with a giant grin on his face "The 16th? Awesome! I'm so excited. See ya!"

Ryan turned him around to face him. "Brendon, where were you? You're 12 minutes-"

"You'll never guess what I just found out," said Brendon, still massively excited.

"Are you even listening? You're-"

"WICKED'S COMING THIS SATURDAY!" said brendon, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Ryan was thrown off at the mention of his favorite musical. "Wait, what? Really?"

"Yeah, and Hayley's getting us both tickets-"

"Wait." Ryan couldn't believe his ears. His best friend was watching their favorite musical _without _him? "Just you and Hayley?"

"Yeah. But if you wanna come, I'll just tell her..."

"Forget it. It's fine," he said a bit harshly. Brendon looked slightly taken aback, so he changed his tone. "So...you're going on a date then."

Brendon's goofy grin came back again. "Yeah I guess. You know...I think I kind of like her."

Now _that _was something Ryan never thought he'd hear. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I mean, she's smart. She's funny. She's really pretty. She likes all the things I like. And...she kind of reminds me of someone." Brendon started fiddling with his coat button, looking slightly embarrassed.

"She reminds you of someone? Who?"

Just then, the door opened and in stepped someone Ryan never thought would set foot in the glee club. Clad in his signature purple hoodie, tight, white-washed jeans, and neon high tops, he walked in, calmly and not in his usual _I-own-the-place _manner.

"Gabe saporta?" said Brendon incredulously "What the hell are you doing here?"

"if you're planning to bully anyone here, then you can just go ahead and leave. This is a bully free club," stated Ryan, his eyes narrowed.

Gabe raised his hands. "Relax guys. I'm here on my own."

"What do you mean?" asked Brendon.

"Well my friends kind of don't know I'm here," explained Gabe "they also don't know that I've always wanted to be a part of the glee club ever since you guys performed in the gym."

Ryan was still suspicious. " you're not trying to get with any of the girls here, are you?"

"No, not at all" said Gabe "I just...I just wanna sing."

Brendon seemed very interested. He rubbed his chin. "I didn't know you liked singing, Gabe."

"Well, a lot of guys think singing is gay. But my shower head and hairbrush beg to differ," said Gabe, grinning sheepishly. Brendon seemed convinced, but not everyone else in the room was, especially Ryan.

Gabe sighed. "Look. I'm not a bad guy. Sure I hang out with thugs. Sure I look like some douche from Jersey shore or something. Sure I look like a bully. But I'm not. I don't throw people into trash cans. I don't stuff people in lockers. I don't pull wedgies or trip anyone. My friends do that. I don't. I just stand and watch because if I try to stop it, they're going to judge me. I mean, you guys know the feeling of being judged. I feel it too. And here, this is where you can be anything you want to be without being judged for it. That's what I wanna feel too. I want to feel free."

In the midst of the silence that followed, Ryan's skeptical voice broke through. "if you don't want your friends judging you, why don't you just leave them?"

Gabe chuckled. "It's not easy for someone to just jump off the top of the social pyramid. Especially when you're at the peak. Besides...who knows what kind of rumors they're going to spread about me when they find out..."

Brendon clapped his hands together. "alright. I'm sold. What are you going to sing for us today?"

Ryan looked at him in shock. "you can't just let him-"

"Look Ryan. Social status is just a name. This guy is exactly like each and every one of us. All he wants is to express himself without being judged. It would be a crime not to let him audition." Brendon turned back to Gabe. "what will you be singing?"

"Empire state of mind by Alicia keys and Jay-Z."

Brendon was impressed. "Wow. You're gonna rap AND sing?"

Gabe smiled crookedly. "I'll try."

The band began to play his song and, before they knew it, Gabe had entranced the small crowd. He rapped every lyric and transitioned to melody flawlessly. His charismatic charm brought the glee members to their feet before they even knew they were dancing. He caught Williams eye every now and then, and saw he was moving along with the crowd, returning his gaze.

At the end of the number, everyone was begging Brendon to let him join. He was just what the glee club needed.

"Alright, alright, calm down," said Brendon. He looked up at Gabe, beaming. "Well, due to unanimous vote, I'm pleased to welcome you into the glee club, Gabe."

Everyone was screaming, chanting his name. Gabe stood there awkwardly, unfamiliar to this sudden burst of praise. He glanced at William, and he saw him gaze back with that all too familiar wonder in his rich brown eyes.

~~/~~

It had been two weeks since the art class incident, and Alex was convinced that he was over Cassadee. Not a single thought about her, not even her face, entered his mind. Sure, his heart would skip a beat when she called him up in his house. Sure, he'd had several dreams about her walking on a beach facing a gorgeous sunset. But that meant absolutely nothing. What was important is, he was one hundred percent not in love with Cassadee.

And fortunately for him, only Sierra knew what had happened. Or at least thats what he thought.

"Hey lover boy," said Sierra as she and Christofer watched Alex pack his back pack.

Alex winced. "Don't call me that."

"Lover boy?" asked Christofer in confusion. Suddenly, his face lit up in understanding. "Is this about the thing?"

Now it was Alex's turn to be confused. "What thing?"

Sierra smacked Christofer's arm hard. "I told you to shut up!"

"Oww!" howled Christofer, rubbing his sore arm "What's the matter with you?"

"You _told _him?" said Alex in anger.

"Just him!" said Sierra in defense.

"You told everybody!" said Christofer, earning another loud smack on his already sore arm.

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Define everybody."

"Everybody as in everybody in the Brat Pack. Don't worry," said Sierra, raising her palms.

"But I told you not to talk about it!"

"You didn't specifically say not to talk about it with anyone else." And Sierra had a point there.

"So you really were making googly eyes at Cass?" asked Christofer "I mean, sure she's pretty but-"

"It doesn't mean anything," said Alex defiantly.

"Alex, you can't keep hiding behind the truth forever," said Sierra "One day, it's gonna come out and you're gonna have to man up about it."

"There's nothing to hide behind, okay?" Alex's voice was rising. "The only truth there is is that I'm not in love with Cass-"

"Not in love with who?" asked a voice behind him. A chill ran down his spine. He turned to face the voice and found her staring up curiously at him.

"Hey Cass," said Sierra, just as stunned as Alex was "We were...just talking about...Alex not being in love with Cassandra Clare."

Cassadee was confused. "Cassadra Clare?"

"Yeah. You know. The one who writes the mortal instruments books? Yeah, Alex says he doesn't like her, but I know he's in love with all her books."

Cassadee looked back at Alex, who's face was just about the same shade as a tomato. He avoided her gaze.

"I gotta go," he muttered, walking away hastily.

As Cassadee watched Alex walking away in complete bewilderment, Christofer leaned into Sierra's ear and whispered "I think you left that part out when you told me about the art class thing."

"I didn't think he'd be the one to admit it," Sierra whispered back.

~~/~~

Jordan watched Cassadee closely from the top of the cards in his hand. Cassadee was doing the same. It had been 30 minutes since they had been locked in a tense game of Monopoly deal. Cassadee had two complete sets, while Jordan had one. It seemed she had the upper hand, but she had no idea just how sneaky her cousin could be.

Cassadee put down a card, sure that she'd win. "Sly deal. Give me your orange property."

Jordan smirked. He put down a "Just Say No" card. "Not today, cuz."

"YOU JERK!" she screamed, almost throwing her hand. Jordan merely laughed.

"You soaking up my awesomeness yet?" he said tauntingly. Cassadee scowled.

"So," said Jordan, drawing two cards from the deck "I heard Alex was fixated with you during art class two weeks ago."

Cassadee looked up in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"A little birdie told me."

"It was Sierra, isn't it."

Jordan laughed, putting down three money cards. "You're fast."

"She was the only one in our art class, smart ass."

Jordan watched her draw two cards. "You know what that could mean, don't you?"

Cassadee looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I always knew there was a possibility that..."

"That what?"

A smile tugged at the edge of Jordan's mouth. "He likes you."

Cassadee blushed, but kept a straight face. "That's stupid. He doesn't like me. I mean..." She suddenly felt slightly disappointed. "He's been avoiding me lately."

"Really?" asked Jordan "In what way?"

"Like, I try to say hi to him, but he always seems like he's in a hurry," explained Cassadee, feeling more disappointed "And when I call him, he takes too long to pick up the phone. And...he won't look at me straight."

Jordan looked at her for a long time. "Are you worried?"

Cassadee snapped out of her reverie and made three moves. "N-no. I mean...maybe something came up and he's not ready to talk about it."

"Or maybe he likes you."

Cassadee stopped for a moment. What if he did like her? What if there was a possibility that he was...in some way...in love with her? Her heart began to race. That was too awkward for their relationship, and too dangerous.

But what if she was in love with him too?

"It'd be funny though," said Jordan, his voice breaking through her consciousness "If you had feelings for him too."

Cassadee swallowed. "I don't have feelings for him."

Jordan shrugged. "Denial is always the first stage in acceptance." He put down three cards and ended the game by taking one of her full sets. She didn't even notice.

"I dont-"

Jordan gave her a withering look. "Spare me. You call him every day. You check his facebook and twitter constantly. You always make it a point to stay by his side and when you do, you have his ridiculous smile on your face. Sometimes, I hear you say his name more than once in your sleep. And you say you don't have feelings for him."

Cassadee opened her mouth to rebut, but Jordan wasn't done.

"You remember the first day when we saw Alex again? You told me that he looked different."

"But he was different!"

"Really? The only thing I noticed was that his hair got longer and he got taller. You obviously saw something else."

Cassadee's cheeks were deep red now. Sure she'd entertained these thoughts more often than not, but she didn't think it'd be Jordan who'd point it out for her. Every time she thought about these things, she'd shove them away or call them ridiculous.

Somehow, they didn't seem ridiculous anymore.

"Look," said Jordan exhaling "No matter how much you deny it, you are head over heels for this guy. And, it's not a bad thing. It's...something that comes with being best friends, maybe. You know him like the back of your hand, and now, things are different because you're a teenager. You know his good points and, now you're...I don't know...attracted to them, I guess?"

Cassadee hugged her knees, trying to sort out her mind. It was like every thought in her head decided to come out and form a giant mosh pit in it, throwing her thoughts and feelings around like a beach ball. Finally the truth surfaced and she buried her head in her arms.

Jordan patted her head. "I gotta go. I'm meeting Christofer for dinner. Just relax. You'll figure it out." All she heard after were footsteps on the floor and the door creaking open and closing shut.

Cassadee suddenly felt something against her hip. She looked down and saw the phone lying on the ground, screen facing up. She held it in her hand, toying with it for a while, until finally, she decided to call up Alex.

~~/~~

"I can't believe she told you about this!" said Alex in exasperation. Brian shrugged in the skype window. Even through the video quality was horrible, Alex couldn't mistake the smirk on his face.

"Face it man, you're in looooove," pointed out Brian, pulling the last word into a slur.

"It doesn't mean that! She just looked different in the light!"

"Oh really? What did she look like then?" Brian cocked a brow.

"She...well, she looked like..." Alex tried desperately to form words, but he couldn't find any that were the total opposite of what he was thinking.

"Go on?" prompted Brian.

Finally, Alex gave up. "A goddess."

Brian burst out laughing. He laughed for a solid minute, complete with stomping his feet, slamming his hand on the table, and the occasional gasp for air. Alex was not amused.

"It's not funny, okay?" he said indignantly.

"Oh contrare, mi amigo," said Brian, wiping his eyes "It's hilarious. _This _is living proof."

"Whatever," said Alex, folding his arms "It's never gonna happen anyway."

"Aw," said Brian, pouting sympathetically "Don't be such a-"

A loud blaring noise startled the both of them. Alex's phone was vibrating and blinking madly. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

"Who is it?" asked Brian.

Alex swallowed. His heart sped up a bit faster. "It's Cassadee."

"Well, don't keep her waiting! Answer it!"

Alex took a deep breath and, after a few more rings, answered the phone. "Hello?"

Cassadee's voice made his skin prickle. "Hey Alex."

"Hey Cass. What's up?"

"What'cha doin?"

"Nothing. Just talking to Brian." He looked back at his computer screen and saw Brian giving him a thumbs up.

"You free this evening?"

"Um...sure. Why?"

"Wanna come over? Jordan's out and both our moms are having dinner with their friends. And I'm really bored."

"Uh...hold on." He put a hand over the speaker and faced Brian. "She wants me to come over."

"And? Are you asking me for permission? JUST GO."

Alex lifted the phone to his ear again. "Sure. What's your address?"

"Actually, I live right behind you. You can come in through the back door."

Alex walked to the back window and peeked through. Sure enough, in the distance, he saw the silhouette of a girl waving back at him. They were that near each other all this time?

"Wow. Okay I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and went back to Brian.

"She lives right behind me," Alex said, a bit too excited.

Brian whistled. "Wow. How convenient. Well, have fun!" He put on a stern face. "Don't do anything stupid there. I don't want to find out-"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Ah, shut up." He closed Skype and shut his laptop. And, feeling suddenly energized, he made his way to Cassadee's back door.

~~/~~

It took a few knocks before Cassadee heard him. When she opened the door, the moonlight fell on her face and suddenly, she transformed into the goddess he saw during art class. It took a lot of effort for him not to stare.

"I can't believe you live right behind my house," said Alex, flushing away his thoughts.

"I know right? Isn't it crazy?" said Cassadee letting him in.

It was a cozy house, big enough to fit a family of four. It kind of felt like his own home. They crossed to the living room. The TV was on. A bowl of popcorn stood untouched on the coffee table.

"Hmm, lemme guess," said Alex "We watching a movie?"

Cassadee shrugged. The gesture made her seem ten times cuter. "If you'd like."

"I don't mind," said Alex, stretching out on the sofa. He watched Cassadee walk over to the stack of DVDs to search for a good movie. At once, the thoughts crawled back into his mind again and he tried, once again, to push them away. Then it hit him. He was with Cassadee. Alone. He heard his heartbeat in his ears.

He needed to distract himself, and he did so with a photo album he found under the coffee table. He flipped it open, and the first thing he saw was a 6 year old Cassadee, smiling a gap-toothed smile. He chuckled.

Cassadee turned back to him. "What are you-" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my god."

"Aw, Cass. Look at you." He showed her the picture. "I don't remember you being this cute."

"Oh yeah?" she said. She sat down beside him and flipped the page. She pointed at a 6 year old Alex, also with a gap toothed smile and wearing a cowboy costume. "I beg to differ."

"Oh my god," said Alex laughing "I remember that costume! I wore it to your house every day."

"Yeah," said Cassadee "And then we'd play cowboys and indians, and I'd be the indian princess."

They flipped around the book for a while, reminiscing the past as they looked at each photograph. Life seemed better back then, when they were younger and didn't have to worry about falling in love.

As they flipped pages, something fell out. Cassadee picked it up. It was a cd, and on it the words "Home Videos" was scrawled in a black sharpie.

"Hey," she said "Let's watch this." She got up and put the cd into the player.

"Oh great," said Alex laughing "I'm afraid of what I'm going to see."

It turned out he didn't. The pictures came to life on screen, and they saw their 6 year old selves, playing and running around like they used to. They saw several clips of them playing cowboys and indians, baking cookies, making sandcastles, even watching Alex's dad play live at one of his coffee shop concerts. Alex stole a glance at Cassadee. He couldn't believe after 10 years, this was his best friend. All grown up and...something different altogether.

"I can't believe it's been 10 years," said Cassadee echoing his thoughts "Look at us now. We're so..."

"Different," finished Alex, smiling. Cassadee smiled back at him. How'd he never notice that she had a really nice smile?

"Happy birthday Cassadee!" said the younger Alex on the tv screen. He was presenting her with a messily wrapped gift.

"Oh no," said Alex "I remember trying to wrap that gift. Hardest thing in my life."

The younger Cassadee ripped open the paper and found a macaroni bead necklace with a picture of her on one of the shells. She squealed with excitement. "Thank you Alex!" she said, hugging him tightly "You give the nicest gifts."

"Yeah," said the younger Alex "Cause you're my bestest friend in the whole entire world."

Cassadee nudged him. "You still think so?"

Alex couldn't help but smile. "Always."

The younger Cassadee gave the younger Alex a kiss. "I love you Alex!"

The younger Alex kissed her back. "I love you too Cassadee!"

And now, upon seeing this, both of them suddenly felt awkward. They'd forgotten they said that to each other 10 years ago. They hadn't known the gravity of their words back then. They were too innocent to know what they really meant.

Alex glanced at Cassadee, who sat still, her hands folded tightly on her lap, her cheeks flaming red. He wondered...could he really be in love with her? Of course, not the kind of love he thought of when he was younger. But something more...permanent. And, would she ever love him back? He knew that it might not even be possible. But...the way she reacted to the video...

"Oh my god," she suddenly said. She picked up a photograph and burst out laughing.

"What is it?" said Alex, happy to be relieved of the tension. He looked over and his eyes widened. It was his 6 year old self, only butt naked and about to jump into a pool.

"Why do you have that picture?" asked Alex, his voice tight with embarrassment.

"I dont know," said Cassadee. She gave him a sly smile. "But I think I might show this to the rest of the Brat Pack."

"You wouldn't."

Cassadee waved the photograph in his face. "Come and get it, then."

Alex made a grab for it, but Cassadee pulled it out of reach. Alex reached over to grab it, not noticing he was directly above Cassadee. She extended her arm over the couch, making it difficult for Alex to get a hand on it.

Suddenly, Alex's arm gave way and he fell on top of her. He struggled to get up, groaning and muttering apologies, but when he glanced at her, he was suddenly captivated. From far away, her eyes were already shining. Up close, they were like jewels, glittering in the light of the television. He could actually trace the constellations the freckles on her face made. He felt her breath, warm and sweet against his cheek. He felt her heart beat against his chest. And her lips...

He had no idea what had happened. He had no idea why it happened. But, just as the fact that their bodies were not even an inch apart was sinking in, he leaned down and kissed her.

What mysterious force led him to do that, he did not know. But he knew that if he didn't do it, he'd regret it for the rest of his life. Simultaneously, he knew that if he did do it, he might regret that too. Plus the fact that Cassadee might hate him forever.

But he didn't pull away. Her lips were the best thing he'd ever tasted since he discovered belgian chocolate. And he worshipped belgian chocolate.

Just as he was having second thoughts, he felt her hand travel up to his face and her lips press against his. He kissed deeper, and she responded to it, running her fingers through his long brown locks.

They stayed entwined together, exchanging lips, stealing breaths, hanging on to every bit of ecstasy, until they had to come for air. Alex gazed down at her, and she smiled back up at him. And suddenly, the truth hit him like a cement truck.

"I...I have to go," he sputtered. He got up off her and dashed to the front door. He ran all the way until he stopped at a street light. He touched his lips, not knowing that, back where he came from, she was also touching hers.

"Oh my god," they said. They seemed a million miles away.


End file.
